A New Past
by Bitsar
Summary: Reeling from their father's war, Chrom and his siblings are left to pick up the pieces to fix Ylisse. A war looms in the distance though, and Plegia has acquired a mysterious new addition to their ranks. Robin will find himself under Plegia's banner, but after meeting with the Prince and his band bent on righteousness, who will have his loyalty? AU for Awakening, novelization.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all, been a bit. I know there was a select bit of people who were reading the start-up of my previous story, but certain life events got in the way. Ya know, the standard college expedition, breakup, all the standard excuses you've heard from author to author so far. Just lettin' ya know that's canned, but I may start a rewrite at some point. I had a bit written out, but it was total trash by the writing I have now. Anyway, hope you'll enjoy the story I've thrown together for ya'll, and I intend to actually get a chapter out every now and then. To promise consistent updates would be a death sentence, so instead I'll just let you all sit in suspense every now and then until I get my rear in gear. Big thing though, leave a review if you can, however small. Gives me an incentive to write faster.**

 **Anyway, Bitsar signing out, have a great one!**

* * *

A New Past

"Milady, may I know why you are exposing yourself to danger so openly?"

Lissa groaned as she pushed herself off the cozy ground. She rubbed her eyes as she glared as well as she could for being half awake at the overbearing knight. _It would be Frederick to interrupt a well-deserved nap._ She thought bitterly.

"I thought I deserved a nice nap!" she answered brightly. "I played 3 pranks in 30 minutes, which takes a lot out of a gal!"

"I know about the pranks milady, the frog in my suit was a wonderful way to alert me." Frederick answered tensely, narrowing his eyes at the culprit. She giggled in response before working her legs to get up and dusting off her dress. Chrom appeared behind Frederick, sporting his trademark battle armor. He looked at Lissa with an amused expression once he saw Frederick's once-again annoyed expression. Chrom patted her on the shoulder and beckoned her to start walking back to the town.

"I'm guessing you ran from your lessons once again?" He chuckled, earning a deeper frown from Frederick. Lissa nodded vigorously and grinned happily towards her brother. He laughed louder and they all started walking towards the town. "I wouldn't recommend doing that considering how delicate you are." He jabbed teasingly, earning him a punch in the arm.

"I am not delicate!" She countered, glowering at her brother who was laughing while rubbing his arm. "I'll have you know I've been working tirelessly on my healing!"

"Tirelessly? Weren't you just napping in a field?" Chrom responded, still chuckling.

"…Almost tirelessly."

"Milady, yesterday you asked me to hide you in a suit of armor so you wouldn't have to attend your healing lessons." Frederick had the faintest hint of a smile on his face as Lissa started mumbling about how annoying he was.

The group walked silently through the field, Chrom and Lissa adamantly talked throughout the rest of the journey. Frederick tailed behind them, only moving ahead when a pebble threatened his lord during his walk. How his lord could be so oblivious to the eminent danger was beyond him, but serving his lord was a joy that could not be rivaled. Unless he was starting fires of course, but no one knew that. He looked forward towards the direction of the town with pride, but that was soon replaced with a feeling of dread. The direction of the town had smoke rising from it!

"Milord!" He snapped, drawing Chrom out of his conversation with Lissa. "The town is under attack!" Chrom's face turned pale and he kneaded the grip of his sword.

"Chrom! The town! We have to help them!" Lissa screeched, scared for everyone's lives.

"I know, I know!" Chrom barked, drawing Falchion. The sword glinted in the sunlight, begging him to save the lives of the citizens who are caught in the mess. "Frederick, grab Lissa and protect her at all costs! We have to save them." Chrom rushed towards the town on foot, Frederick and his sister in tow. _Damn these brigands, I won't let our people be caught in this! Emm, you better find a way to fix this._

Not a moment too soon Chrom and his party arrived in the town to find it under siege by a band of brigands. Buildings crumbled to the fires of destruction while innocent bodies layered the streets. Chrom had to resist gagging upon seeing his people, the people he was tasked to protect dying on the floor in front of him. Lissa looked ready to cry behind him, and it tore him apart that his younger sister had to witness some of the citizens she was closest too outside of the city lying in pain in front of her.

This would be a painful task.

* * *

His eyes burned. In fact, his entire body felt aflame, as if the sweat beading off of his forehead was any indication. He couldn't open his eyes, and he could feel sand beneath him. Where was he? He tried to raise his body, but it didn't work, and he settled for trying to figure out where he was. He knew he was heavily dressed despite what he could guess his current location being a desert. He tried to remember how he got where he was, but only a void remained when he tried to reach out. He let loose a sigh, trying to will his body to work once more.

"Hey Junior, any idea who that poor sod lying on the ground is?" A tenor voice rang out. The man on the ground panicked. _Voices?! Bandits, perhaps? C'mon damnit, work with me here body!_ The voice sounded amused though not hostile, but he couldn't take any chances. What he could only guess was his companion gave a large gasp, almost as if in pure disbelief, and then he heard a cackle. No, not just one, a chorus of cackles from just that one man, followed by a few crows chirping.

"Man, this day is _awesome!_ " a higher voice rang out, almost in sing-song. The man seemed to be skipping in his general direction, humming along the entire way. He could hear a few pages being flipped beside his ear. The man let loose another giggle, before clearing his voice. "Heyo! Mind telling me what you're doing here?"

The man on the ground finally was able to get his eyes to open, and after briefly being assaulted by the overcast sun he was able to get a glimpse at his newcomers. A white-haired boy with a plastered smile surrounded by crows, and what he could only guess to be a ginger-haired thief judging by his dress, though it seems he cared more about stealing sweets than gold just by a quick glance at the lollipops decorating his outfit. He opened his mouth, letting loose a few coughs before he could respond, his voice hoarse. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "My latest memory seems to be this encounter." The man grunted, bringing a hand to his banging head. The thief's eyebrows shot up, adjusting his current candy before responding himself.

"Amnesia, huh? Well hell, you must've had a hell of a ride to end up here." He responded, shooting a sympathetic glance at the man being helped up by his companion. "Mind tellin' us what your name is?"

"My…name?" The man scrunched up his face, letting loose an annoyed grunt as he shook his head at his interrogator. "I…don't know, as frustrating as that is to hear for the both of you."

" _FRUSTRATING?_ " The other white-haired man nearly screamed, making both of the others jump. After helping the amnesiac up, he began bouncing up and down excitedly. "I can't you how happy I am!" The amnesiac tilted his head. _Happy?_ The boy then rushed him, wrapping him a hug designed to crush a giant, making him let loose a gasp for air.

"Uh, Henry?" The thief started, wearing off the initial shock. "Care to explain to the class what the hell you're going on about?" Henry looked his direction briefly before somehow widening his smile even more. He then gestured to their new guest excitedly before clearing his throat once again. He began to open his mouth, but then let loose another fit of cackles before waving off his friend.

"Nope, I don't actually!" He announced, much to the chagrin of his two guests. "Gaius, I'll explain later. Oh man I'm so happy, I feel like my spleen could explode! Do you think that it would be messy?" Henry tilted his head at 'Gaius', almost looking like a dog being offered a treat. Gaius let loose a brief chuckle, ignoring the question and turning his head to the last unnamed one there.

"So, now that you know our names," Gaius started, fiddling with a candy wrapper before tossing it into the mounded sand below him. "Has that jogged your memory of yours at all?" Gaius crossed his arms, once again ignoring Henry, who was now muttering oddly to his birds. The robed man put an already exhausted hand to his forehead.

"Give me just one moment, I'm sure it shall come…" The man stood there and closed his eyes, as if in meditation for nearly a full minute in the awkward silence. With a hitch of his breath and a pained sigh, his shoulders slumped despite not knowing they were tensed, and opened his eyes. He allowed a tired smile to arrive on his face. "My name is Robin. As for anything else, your guess is as strong as mine at the moment. If anything do you mind letting me know where we are? I need a geospatial representation of our current location."

"You're in Plegia, about a few thousand feet from the Royal Castle in the distance." Gaius answered without a beat. Gaius flicked the candy in his mouth before continuing. "Considering that you're out cold in the desert, which I actually applaud you on, and that you have no idea where you're going, you should probably come with us." Robin gave a raised eyebrow in response.

"And I should do that because…?"

"I may be a thief, but even I can tell that you have no cash on hand. Although, that coat seems like it go for quite a bit…" Henry somehow managed to perk up even more before chiming in.

"Oh yeah!" he snapped his fingers. "That's the coat of a Plegian hierarch, or at least one of his constituents. If you present yourself as you are to the king, he might find a position for ya!" Robin glanced at his coat, seemingly taking notice of his ornate dressing for the first time. Fumbling through it, he realized it was weighted down by two items: a red tome and a small sword. Henry's grin somehow widened even more, before Robin shot them a look of confusion.

"With how I am now, meaning armed and unknowing to who I am?" Robin let out a bemused chuckle, only evolving into full-blown laughter once he noticed Henry shaking his head up and down like a figurine in the wind. _This guy, no, this boy can't possibly be as dangerous as he lets on. He's so…childish. The thief on the other hand is clearly dangerous and experienced, although lax. It'd be better to go with them for the time being, at least before I find a place to stay…although one with less sand would do well._ Robin put his newfound belongings away before giving a sharp nod. "Lead the way." He gestured.

* * *

Even in this giant throne room, Plegian flags standing proudly around him and the pillars ornately decorated, despite being in the position of power he was in now, he couldn't help it. Gangrel was bored. His beauty of an adviser was only so good at keeping his attention, and her strategic input hadn't been helpful, as of late. No, word came back that the bandits sent to Ylisstol were easily slaughtered by the princeling, and it only happened to inspire more hope into the citizens rather than a riot. He knew what he wanted, he repeated it every day of course. The problem is going into this war as a success, rather than a failure. Sure, he could simply declare war and get it over with. He had more military power than Ylisse after all. What was stopping him?

He knew, of course. He knew it all. The bloody war that the Ylissean king might have put them as the villains as the instigators, but word spread of why. A crusade, a religious purge upon the Grimleal. Not every Plegian were Grimleal, far from it in truth. Didn't matter who started it, the worship of Naga was far beyond Grima's influence, and sides were drawn immediately, with Plegia taking the biggest hit. Charged with reparations for a war no one there wanted, they were only surviving off of the work of the miners who kept business booming. A war where they were once again the villains with no allies would spell certain doom. A bloody end to all Ylisseans…with the hopes of a future afterward.

Gangrel's unpleasant musings were broken when his adviser stepped through the door, that sultry look on her face once again. He hated her, he knew she was plotting. He had no choice though, who else could he rely on? That dreary dark mage? No, she was smart but unwilling. She had no loyalty to speak of. Aversa was at least willing to play with the cards she was dealt with, for now. He could use that. She walked up and gave a short bow before speaking.

"My lord, our spy network comes bearing news." She announced with mock enthusiasm. Every bit of news they'd gotten recently was less than appealing. News of the farmers having a rough season, less than usual results from the "barbarians" that were sent, and defectors were all the news they'd received of recent. Depending on who was delivering the news, it could be great or catastrophic. She cleared her throat before continuing. "The ginger-haired thief, Gaius was his name? He and the scholar say they've found something that might finally be to your liking."

Gangrel sat up straight instantly. That thief was most their most competent as of recent, even among the more experienced spies. With an excited grin, he gestured them in. Aversa followed suit and waved behind her, allowing them into the chambers. Gaius walked in first, giving a chaste wave to his lord and a wink to Aversa, to which her smile turned into a sneer near instantaneously.

Following him was a familiar bed of messy white hair, his partner. The scholar was good at one thing, Gangrel reasoned, research. Despite his disturbing tendencies, even by his standards, he could pull off some truly amazing feats. In only a few short days, maybe even shorter if he had all the materials on-hand at the start. With no extent was he unwilling to go to, that Henry was able to conjure up curses, hexes, and spells previously unheard of. Although some remain untested, and some have less than satisfactory results, the many that worked were beyond understanding to the Grimleal Hierarchy's most informed mages.

What Gangrel did _not_ recognize was the second head of white hair that followed. Looking older than both Gaius and Henry, he had an oddly refined air about him. He carried himself well, back straight and hands by his sides. Well, for the most part he was refined. The Mad King couldn't help but notice that he was glancing around the throne room with sheer curiosity, one unperturbed by ulterior motives. It was like a child's unknowingness and a soldier's training built into one person.

"Hey-o, Kingly." Gaius flicked the lollipop in his mouse, letting out a brief chuckle at the unamused look on his king's face. "Still don't like the nickname, eh? You'll get used to it. I have news though, as I'm sure you've heard from the beauty over there." He gestured with the point of a thumb to Aversa. "Thanks again, Enchantress. Looks like you're finally making yourself at home."

"I'll be at home when I've seen a knife run through your gut." She goaded. Henry's eyes lit up as soon as he heard what she said.

"Ooooh, can I be the one who does it?" He raised his hand and asked, bouncing up and down excitedly. Gangrel let loose a sigh before redirecting his attention back towards his main audience. He had to at least let this grim scholar get his energy out of the way, or he would end up ripping the tapestries off the walls with pure energy, and they take _forever_ to put up.

"And what exactly did you bring me today?" He questioned, eyes staring at their newest addition. The man in question stepped forward and gave a formal bow, examining his interrogator. Despite his position, Gangrel knew what the man was doing; he was sizing him up. The man had absolutely no idea who his king was, and referred to him in his mind as no one of any consequences, at least not yet. It was refreshing, Gangrel thought after a moment of indignation. Groveling nobles always put a bad taste in his mouth, so this was a refresher.

"Well met." The man spoke, the deepness of his voice actually making Gangrel do a double take. "Your retainers here found me passed out not too far from this castle, although I have no recollection of how I ended up there, nor who I am for that matter." He explained, recounting the details as if he'd lived it thousands of times already. "One of them mentioned how apparently, this coat that I am wearing is of some significance? I would hope you could clarify better than Henry could, although omitting any extra mention of guts if you don't mind."

Gangrel's eyes slowly traced over the coat, before he practically vaulted out of his throne. He nearly began screaming in pure shock when he realized what the man was wearing. After a moment to process, Gangrel began to guffaw at the audacity of what was in front of him. "That coat, I know what that is! Sonny you're the protégé of a Grimleal magistrate! With that and the brand you have more power over the cult than anyone in this entire damn castle!" Gangrel continued to laugh, before he abruptly stopped and glanced back down to Robin, putting his hands on his hips and tilted to the side with a questioning look. "You…do have the brand, right brat?"

"Don't refer to me as a brat." Robin drolled briefly before shaking his head. "There's an odd brand on the back of my left hand, if that's any indication. So, where does that put me?" Robin folded his arms and stared at the king, whose jaw was practically at the floor.

He couldn't believe it, the boy had no idea how powerful he was just by word alone! Gangrel recomposed himself, and stood straight up as well. This random commoner was practically showing him up! Having him on his side, could be exceedingly useful in getting those pesky old farts to finally bend. He cracked his neck and folded his hands before giving Robin a Cheshire grin. "Boy, what is your name?"

Out of sight and out of mind, a disquieted Aversa slipped away from the grand hall, shock and anger bubbling in her chest.

* * *

Chrom ran his fingers through his hair, before throwing a _very_ large stack of papers off of his study's desk with an enormous grunt. The room wasn't large, and rarely used due to Chrom's large aversion to doing any sort of paperwork. A large, singular window was Chrom's only mirror into the outside, significantly more interesting world. Besides that, the surprisingly clean room only housed a few bookshelves denoting war tactics throughout Ylisse's history. In fact, the only reason the bland room wasn't filled with cobwebs and dust was their stalwart retainer. While he didn't enjoy dusting as much as starting fires, he seemed to get an odd joy out of wearing the butler's apron. To each his own, he reasoned. Of course, that didn't solve his current situation of border reinforcements.

Steel boots echoing across the reinforced, marble flooring gave Chrom a pretty good idea who was approaching, as said knight entered the room with a stone cold expression, though if Chrom's double take was correct, he had a trace of a bemused smile on his face due to seeing all the papers on the floor. "Milord, you know throwing the stack onto the floor doesn't make it disappear any faster." Chrom gave him a half-hearted glare and sighed.

"No, but it makes me feel better for a modicum of a second. Why am I required to do this again?" he whined in a manner that if both were honest, wasn't befitting of a prince. Frederick simply shook his head and began to pick up the papers, shuffling them into order. He ended up placing them on a barren shelf-top next to his lord and walked passed him to open up the window.

"Well," Frederick said, returning to the door to stand guard. "The last time we had been offered an official tactician to take care of troop placements and other necessities, you head-butted him. Broke his nose, if I recall."

"He insulted Lissa and was a pompous bastard, you think I would let him get away with that?" Chrom asked, exasperated.

"No, but avoiding an assault charge only by Her Grace's apologies is always a pleasant alternative." Frederick scolded. Chrom let loose a small chuckle and got up from the chair, stretching his back with a satisfying pop. Frederick seemingly ignored the behavior and went on. "It won't get easier from here on, Milord. Our network has reported that Plegia has hired a new, mysterious tactician. He was said to best their current tactician in simulations with less than relative ease." Chrom's attention was instantly grabbed, and he had a terrified look in his eyes.

"Wait, what?" Chrom all but yelled. "They already had an advisor that was incredible, even by Gangrel's word. What in Naga's name changed?" Frederick only shook his head solemnly.

"No one knows. He's terrifying though, said to be reading a book on Feroxi tactics while besting her time and time again in the simulations. He was hired shortly after our saving of Yllistol a week ago. Perhaps Gangrel was unsatisfied with how innefective her 'barbarian' tactics have been? Surely you noticed those bandits had a Plegian accent." Chrom sat back down and slumped into his chair, the news finally hitting home and making a visible crease on his forhead.

"Damn them, the war's already at our doorstep, Emm refuses to do anything about it, and now they have a trump card?" Chrom slammed his fist into his desk, making a visible dent in the shined mahogany. "How are we going to defend our nation if they invade?!" Frederick gave his lord a pat on the back before clearing his throat.

"If I may impart some more knowledge milord, the report from our network wasn't finished." Chrom's eyebrow raised as he humored his steward.

"Oh? Enlighten me."

"It seems the new tactician is the son of an unknown Grimleal Hierarch. Despite this fact he seems to have little knowledge of anything to do with the Grimleal, or much for that matter. We don't have too much on him, but it seems he spends many hours cooped up in the royal library, or in his new quarters. He's much less an advisor than the previous one, more-so delivering paper reports. It's only speculation, but it's believed he may not be entirely with his memories." Frederick clarified. He picked up a feather duster from…god knows where, and began to dust the windowsill behind Chrom, forcing the latter to turn his chair around to see him. "He's impressive, that's for certain but he does not seem to have his heart in it."

Chrom gave a hum, thinking on the report. Perhaps they could use that against them? As much as Chrom was more brawn than brain, that even he knew, but that felt like going a bit too far. In what way could he effectively meet this tactician, extend an invitation, vet his intentions, _and_ effectively appoint him without raising suspicion? If any point of the operation was found out, Plegia would have an immediate reason for war, and the halidom would be branded with another attempt at the Grimleal Cult. Even then, this man is supposedly a Grimleal himself, could he be trusted? There were far too many risks.

"Has this been run by Emm yet? What did she say?" Frederick nodded and shuffled briefly, pulling out some papers from what Chrom could only assume was a shirt pocket. If he remembered correct, Frederick wears a suit underneath all of that armor, Naga knows how he does it.

"According to the following documentation, she is stating that the reduction in barbarian attacks following his hiring is a boon, and we should not force our hand." Chrom rubbed his hand over the hilt of falchion, something he did whenever he found himself either worried or thinking deeply…or any emotion, for that matter. He loved the sword, truly.

"I guess that makes sense in the short-term…" Chrom muttered, letting loose a resigned sigh. "If he has reduced casualty rates and instead focused his efforts elsewhere, that's good enough for now. What has he reportedly been doing in the meantime?"  
"So far, he's been focused solely on Plegian economics, and opening up sea-based trade to the continent of Valm. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he hasn't extended an invitation to Ylisse just yet."

"Wait, he's focused on economics? I thought he was their strategist? Ya know, the tactician?" Frederick gave a rare shrug in response.

"It seems that advisers have much more power in Plegian society than we'd previously realized. Regardless, we will have to wait and see how this progresses."

"Fair enough, I only hope he doesn't hold Ylisse accountable for father's mistakes…"

* * *

Robin sighed and put his quill down heavily, resting his head on the ornately decorated desk his king so graciously provided him. From amnesiac to religious symbol wasn't a transition that sat well with him, especially with the odd feeling of inherent distrust he felt toward the god. If it gave a symbol for Plegia to rally behind, he didn't mind playing the part for a time, but he feared it was quickly getting out of hand. _Plegia is in a contrary state, but what do they truly want?_

Robin knew what Plegia's sentiments towards Ylisse were, despite his skepticism. Half of Plegia wanted a war, half of Plegia simply wanted to be left alone for once. Regardless of what side they were on, the shared sentiment was simple: Plegia is good, Ylisse is bad, to put it simply. Not a single Ylissean, nor Plegian enjoyed what Ylisse's Demon King wrought but the truth remained that it was on the blue blood's hands. The civilians wanted Ylisse to pay, but how the dividing factor was what was crucial.

Bullion, or blood?

He could keep anger at bay with progress, which he could tell. Plegia was desperate for good news, and the furthering of trade routes and luxuries to the civilians was certainly helping people feel more comfortable while the politics began to turn murky. As much as sending a trade route request to Ylisse for food would help, he knew it was unrealistic. In what way would Plegia want _fair trade_ from Ylisse? The war certainly wasn't fair for them.

On top of suddenly shouldering the weight of a country a week after what could honestly be considered a rebirth thanks to the lack of memories, he had his status to deal with. The mark on his hand held him accountable for that which he had no recollection of. He asked Henry, but every time he asked Henry complained about a headache, before laughing. Was Henry hiding something? Maybe not, but maybe he just didn't wish to give Robin a no out of fear of making him upset. He was protective of his close friends, it made sense. Truthfully, it annoyed him. The mark seems to have some meaning beyond status, but he couldn't remember.

And then there as the king himself…he was a madman. Clear as day. Anyone could tell that, but he had a mind still intact. Robin may have only a week's worth of memories, but he wasn't a fool. The King, Gangrel, he isn't completely in his role. Unlike Henry, he's definitely hiding something…

Robin got up and stretched, shuffling his papers to the side. "I need to go to Ylisse." He announced to no one but himself. How could he make an educated decision without being able to witness the whole picture? It would only lead to lost lives, he couldn't risk that. The question is how to get there discreetly. If he made a request to Gangrel to leave for Ylisse, he'd have his head ripped off. He had to get there instantly, but how?

Robin felt a candle flicker above his head, and he honestly felt like hitting himself. Henry was a scholar, and an amazing one at that. The question is, could he reverse engineer a rescue staff? There was a few in the inventory he perused, so the only question that remained was could it be done? Could Henry inflict some dark magic on the staff and reverse the light magic's effects? Did it even _work_ like that? He honestly had no clue.

If that plan followed through though, he had another issue; what would he do when he get there, and how could he get back? He could probably just have Henry find someone to use the staff and bring him back, there were certainly Grimleal Clergymen who would love the honor. Who would he meet though? The Exalt? _Probably the most rubbish plan you've thought of yet._ Meeting with the Exalt in secret would not only be traitorous in itself, but no Ylissean in their right mind would trust a Plegian with the coat he had on now. He'd need someone so open-minded and quite truthfully, stupid, and somehow in a position of power to be able to-  
Robin let loose a loud 'Ah ha!', and mentally began to congratulate himself. He heard of the Exalt's younger sibling, a young man who led a group that would run around and essentially solve any issues Ylissean civilians had, usually by force. He had a band of misfits he carried around with him, none of which are properly vetted or anything. They were just…picked up if he trusted them. Maybe they could meet? Would he even trust a plegian is the next question? If his rash behavior wasn't already worrying, it was indicative of the Demon King's youth as well.

Risks had to be taken, he supposed. He would have to run the idea by Henry and Gaius, who he's found over the course of the week they were the only two he could truly trust. True, they were quirky, but they got their jobs done, and they got them done well. Whatever his lost upbringing may have taught him in essence, it's imparted a strong sense of moral justice, one that he could already tell would lead him down a path of war. The tactical knowledge…it was there for a reason.

He was determined to find that reason, wherever it may lie.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there, Bitsar here again back way before I ever expected to update this once again. Summer gave me more free time than expected it seems, so I was able to get this out quick. That'll change once my Cybersecurity Business Core takes off the end of August, but hey transparency is a good thing.**

 **Now, as a disclaimer I want to point out something that I feel might confuse people along the road. This is an AU, and Robin's origin is _not_ the only thing I'm changing. One of the biggest problems I have with Awakening, despite loving it, is that any sense of mythos in regards to the two gods of the game is severely played down. It'll become readily apparent in this chapter where I decided to expand upon that and how. **

**Two last things. One, I want to point out Chrom's, Robin's, and Henry's pairings are actually already decided. I won't reveal it right away because, well, I'm an ass and want to tease ya'll but it won't be hidden for TOO long.**

 **Lastly, please keep in mind the spirit of Fire Emblem during this fic. Long before I ever wrote a Persona fic, or even played those games my uncle was the first to teach me the words 'Momento Mori'.**

 **Remember you are mortal, remember you will die. This is war, after all. None of the characters here are entirely safe, and I will make those decisions as I progress through this journey with you.**

* * *

By Lissa's personal request (and incessant badgering) the royals decided to take a visit to Yllistol after the events of the previous raid to make sure that not only the raids had stopped, but to check how the civilians were fairing. Reportedly with their previous stunt alongside the new Plegian tactician, no further threats were made to the town yet. Despite that, Lissa's time within the castle's infirmary training must've given her a sense that no matter how it looked, there was always someone who needed to be healed. Chrom decided to complaints were necessary, for once he and Frederick agreed that it was her showing some personal growth on her part.

No matter what the situation looked like though, the prince felt an uneasy sense of dread towards events unfolding. While the tactician made his first semi-public appearance, he kept his hood up and only gave a brief wave to the crowd and a bow before retreating once more, letting Gangrel take over and deliver another grandiose speech about how Plegia will once again rise, and that Ylisse will pay for its crimes. Some Ylisseans felt they were empty threats, meant for nothing other than to incite paranoia and possibly appeasement.

Others, especially those on Emmeryn's council, thought otherwise. The King meant his word, that much was certain. He intended to find a way to make Ylisse suffer for the actions of his father, no matter the fact that the man died long ago. He even acknowledged the fact that the king was at fault for the war, not his people, yet stated that those that participated in the war were civillains too, therefore were just as equally at fault. He supposed he couldn't blame him, Gangrel had fought in the previous war reportedly, so it only made sense that he harbored a deep hatred. If only he could see Emmeryn's heart, maybe he would change his mind…

"Chrom would you _stop_ moping already?!" Lissa complained loudly, breaking Chrom out of his stupor. His sister was giving him what he could only describe as a mix of disappointment and bemusement, although he felt that she only did that just to rile him. Wouldn't be the first time, if the frogs had anything to say about it. "You'd think it would be me who was moping, considering all you and Freddy did was stand around and look pretty while I healed everyone." Frederick scowled at the remark.  
"I did not sit there and 'stand pretty'", he said, expression betraying him for once as he actually showed some brief irritation. "I made sure that you and milord were well guarded, should another bandit attack-"

"Did I say I cared? Because I _reaaaaaaally_ don't care." Lissa giggled, even making Chrom crack a smile at the bluntness. Frederick didn't seem to share the sentiment, only shaking his head as he returned to the task at hand; lighting the firewood that he had gathered. Despite his station, the man seemed oddly obsessed with fire.

The group ate in relative silence, with the occasional grunt of dissatisfaction from Lissa and Frederick due to the nature of the meat they were eating. Chrom didn't see what issue beyond the smell bear meat could possibly pose, but I guess that growing up eating meals prepared by a royal chef would make this taste less appealing, at least to Lissa. What shocked him was Frederick. Of all the things to stump the giant, it was meat?

No amount of bear meat could have prepared Chrom for the loud crack that seemed to echo across the sky, and the following scream of his younger sister, suddenly hiding behind the knight. Frederick was up at an instant, momentary discomfort forgotten. He scanned the surrounding, looking for what could have potentially made that noise. A quick look up and a grimace was all that graced his features.

"Milord." Frederick spoke tersely, grabbing his lance from his side. "The sky is aflame, we must move post-haste. We will have to make a dash toward the capital." Chrom gave him a brief yet stern stare and, much to his knight's chagrin, made a dash in the _opposite_ direction; towards the flames. Frederick gave a brief sigh before bodily lifting up Lissa onto his horse. "Not a modicum of caution. Worth the attempt, I suppose."

Chrom had a million thoughts running through his head during his mad dash, none more prominent than the general question of _what in Naga's name is going on?_ After the short dash he found exactly what it had seemed like on the horizon; the earth was being ripped up, fire and magma spewing from the cracks forming in the Earth. If that hadn't been enough, the sky began to crack as well.

It all happened in a flash. The sky opened up to a giant eye and monsters began to fall. Two fell in front of Chrom. They dripped slowly like oil from a tankard, and the sludge that surrounded them charred the group they fell upon, burning away any plant life they had on them. They got up from the position they had fallen, and turned their red eyes towards the prince himself. _Too many questions, no answers._ He thought to himself briefly before drawing Falchion and taking his eyes off the quite honestly unnerving portal that had opened up.

Chrom rushed forward and swung wide, cleaving the first of the monsters in two, separated at the torso. The creature's red eyes dimmed and it let out a weak groan before both portions of his body fully dissipating into black sludge, once again burning the ground where it perished. Chrom ducked low, already expecting the second one's axe swing to come straight for his neck. Its arc went straight over him, and he bucked the creature's knees from underneath him with a swift kick to the legs. With the creature on the ground, just a swift jab downward on its head was enough to end the beast.

Chrom was about to revel in his small victory when he realized neither Lissa nor Frederick were directly behind him. He whirled around in a panic just to see Frederick stuck behind several of the monsters. Lissa wasn't next to him. _Where the hell is she?!_ Chrom panicked, eyes darting from left to right. He finally found her, but he wasn't going to be able to get there in time. She was too far away, and the creature was already bringing its axe down on her. Time seemed to slow, but just as he was about to shout her name, someone ducked right in front of her and blocked the swing, but only just barely. The position left the swordsman compromised, and without a word of introduction they shouted at Chrom.

"Don't just stand there, help!" He grunted, holding his guard. Chrom recovered from his shock and nodded, rushing forward and slaying the beast with a quick blow, letting the unnamed man loosen his arms and pull back. He sheathed his sword quickly and gave the two a curt nod before directing their attention back to Frederick.  
He had been faring well despite being alone, but Chrom noticed restrained fear when out of the corner of his eyes, they noticed a monster holding what appeared to be a tome. The magic would have shred through his armor, and he reared his horse for a charge. Chrom knew the tactic, it was meant as a last ditch effort in case any heavy mounted cavalry in the Ylissean army encountered a magic user while not being protected.

Once again, before Chrom could even speak a word, a savior from the side appeared in a flash of purple light, bewildered for only a second before grasping the situation and sending his own magic straight towards the monstrous caster, coat billowing behind him. The lightning bolt made the creature spasm, and before the creature could even stop its erratic movement, its eyes dimmed and it dissipated like the rest. The second unnamed man, hood wrapped above his head with the only thing visible being his eyes and a white tuft of hair gave a brief sigh and a roll of the shoulders. He muttered briefly about no word of 'zombies' in Ylisse, before actually noticing the people staring at him in blatant shock. He gave a chaste wave towards his audience. Chrom was seemingly the first to gain his composure, and addressed his the two newcomers.

"Uh…" Chrom bumbled, searching for the words to say. "So, uh, thanks for saving my friends." The hooded man gave a short bark of laughter, only a small smile gracing his otherwise stoic features for but a brief moment. Chrom grimaced due to the lack of tact, and realigned himself before speaking once again. "Both Lissa here and my retainer, Frederick were near goners had you two not shown when you did. Are you two perhaps here together?"

The masked man gave a small shake of the head, and directed their attention towards an incoming militia of the undead creatures. "I did not come with whoever this man is," he answered cryptically. "These monsters are what I came here for. Risen." The man spat the word as if venom on their tongue. The others just tilted their heads at him, but he paid it no heed. "They're being directed by a risen commander. Take him out, and they'll scatter like flies." Frederick, having never lost his composure in the first place, gave what almost looked like an eye-roll at the suggestion.

"And how do you propose we get through that militia guarding their commander in the first place?" He questioned. "Even if we do make it there in front of him, that hammer one of them is holding will prevent even me from taking him on directly. We'd need a magic wielder to even have a hope of taking him on in single combat, let alone best him." The hooded man gave a brief whistle for attention, and all eyes turned to him.

"The answer is simple, we don't go for the commander." The man reasoned, making the others look at him like he's mad. He explained further, holding back another bark of laughter at the masked man's expression, or what he could see of it. "We're already thin for forces as is, and these monsters will simply overwhelm us if we try anything offensive. Now on the other hand, do you see those ruined forts?" The entourage looked towards the remnants of a crumbled castle. "If we use those as cover, these creatures will simply come to us. They came after the rest of you without provocation, safe to say they'll do the same here. We'll lure them and kill them. They don't have enough to surround us." Lissa actually seemed to perk up at the plan, making him notice her as well. He gave a brief smile and followed up. "Our mounted cavalry and what infantry we have will hold a front line while I will do what I can to take out any threats from behind. As for you, cleric, you'll just simply need to heal any of us as the need arises. Safe to say this won't be without at least minor injury."

"And who are you to simply begin to boss around milord?" Frederick demanded, pointing his spear at his previous savior. "What rank is bestowed upon you to allow you such freedom?" he admitted that he owed a level of debt to the man, but far be it from him to simply boss around his lordship! The hooded man simply rolled his eyes and gave a sigh.

"Does it matter that much?" Robin responded dryly. "Speaking of which, wouldn't it be smart to introduce yourselves first before demanding names? So far you haven't shown anything befitting of a noble."

"How dare you!"

"Hey, enough!" Lissa stomped, drawing all attention to her. Satisfied that she had the attention, she sauntered over to the hooded man and gave him a disarming smile. "Hi! My name is Princess Lissa, third in line for the crown of Ylisse, nice to meet ya! The glowering spoil sport that you _SAVED_ ," she exaggerated that last word towards the 'glowering spoil sport' with a surprisingly dark glare that seemed to make said man wilt. "Is Frederick, my retainer. The one over there with no fashion sense is Chrom, leader of the shepherds!" The hooded man suddenly looked very surprised at that fact, and looked towards him for a response.

Chrom gave a nervous rub of the neck before presenting Falchion. "She speaks the truth. My brand and sword will back up her statement." The hooded man nodded at the statement, letting a small smile creep onto his face. Chrom continued. "Now for the sake of my overprotective bodyguard, do you mind introducing yourself to us?" He nodded while clutching his tome to his chest, and shook his hood free. He gave a deep bow while his cloak continued to billow due to the wind.

"My name, or rather my title I suppose I should introduce myself with is Robin, royal adviser and high Hierarch of the Grimleal under his lord Gangrel. This is quite the turn of good fate, I had planned to seek you out specifically for a meeting. Pleasure to make the acquaintance." Robin once again gave a deep bow, and everyone, including the masked man who had yet to introduce himself, looked at him in shock.

"You're Gangrel's new strategist?" Chrom asked in pure shock. "Never mind my previous questions, why in Naga's name are you _here_ of all places?"

"I could ask the same, seeing the royal prince's entourage out in the sticks." Robin quipped with a short laugh. Lissa actually laughed back, while Chrom only simply gave him that what he said was true. "As I said just a brief moment ago, and by brief I mean ten seconds, I actually came to Ylisse to find you of all people. Lack of memories means that I know very little of Ylisse without actually seeing it, so I found that a brief interview would provide me with the information I need."

"Well, I guess that makes sense…" Lissa pondered. She looked at him skeptically before asking her own question. "More importantly, you appeared in a flash of light! How did you manage to teleport like that?"

"A friend of mine reverse engineered a rescue staff, but just so happened to forget to tell me when he was going to send me here, or where in Ylisse he planned to send me in the first place." Robin sighed. "It's a long story, I'll get to it after the interview. You can have your retainer transcribe word for word what the reasoning is later during the meeting if you'd prefer. I have nothing to hide."

"Well, that solves _one_ immediate problem I guess. Now, what about you? You haven't said nearly a single thing since getting here. Well, besides yelling at me that is." Chrom asked the pointed question towards their only unintroduced friend, who actually seemed to briefly turn red in embarrassment before donning the stoic expression they had previously.

"You may call me Marth. The nature of my being here is none of your concern, it is limited in your knowledge to those monsters that we've been dealing with. I will elaborate slightly later, if you'd prefer. We must deal with the threat first." He answered instantly, began to move forward towards the ruined structures without another word. Robin gave a shrug to Chrom.

"Guess he's not one to mince words. Now, if you'd all prefer to see the light of day we should get to those forts." Robin followed after Marth.

After a very brief jog towards the nearest broken down fort, Robin ascended the broken stairwell and looked over the soon-to-be-battlefield, and began to shout orders to the group. They ended up agreeing to Robin's previous plan, and took positions accordingly, with Robin still on the second floor of the fort and Frederick out front. Frederick was flanked by Marth and Chrom, while Lissa stood behind Robin, staff in hand. The first of the Risen barbarians charged at Frederick just as predicted, and was quickly sliced apart by Marth. Robin kept his eyes set on the hammer-wielding one, but otherwise the Risen were approaching slowly.

"Hey, damn ya'll for leaving me out of the fun! This is the last time I let you go anywhere without the rest of us, Chrom!" an angry voice shouted over the battle. Chrom's shoulders sagged as he let out a deep laugh, turning around to greet the newcomer.

"Sully, glad you could make it! We'll go over introductions later, join us by the front-lines, and maybe Robin can alter our plans."

"Milady, my heart still yearns for your response!" A sing-song voice shouted, and this time no one seemed to know the voice. A blueish-gray haired man wielding a bow came panting next to Sully, and continued his tirade. He held a hand over his heart, "So cruel, to leave me in the dust while you ride off into the sunset!" Sully sneered at the man, and he actually seemed to sweat-drop. Robin shook his head.

"Alright, who are _you?_ " The man looked offended and giving his response.

"Have you not heard the name? Remember it well, I am the Virion, the archest of archers! My aim has never once faltered, all of Rosanne can-"

"Alright no one special, got it." Robin yawned tiredly, silencing and shocking Virion. Chrom and even Marth seemed to wince at the crass response. "Make yourself useful and get up here. Now that we have more bodies we can actually try a better plan."

Robin hopped down from the ramparts as Virion ascended, taking up a sniping position seamlessly. Robin had to give him that, he at least knew how to use a bow. He sauntered up to the front-lines and began to think briefly, before snapping his fingers and directing his attention towards Sully. "You, I need you to take Chrom with you, and run through the outskirts of the battle. I'm going to draw attention from the hammer wielding Risen while Lissa will ride with Frederick."

"I'm assuming Virion is providing cover for whatever you're planning?" Chrom asked, and Robin gave a brief nod.

"Correct. Virion!" Robin yelled up towards the top of the ramparts. "Frederick and Lissa will be providing me cover from the other Risen, if you see one slip past their vision it's up to you to take it out swiftly. Got that?!" Virion gave a cocky grin and flourished his hair in response, before silently slipping down to one knee and taking up a more refined position.

"Right, last thing. Chrom, you and Sully are going to sit on the outskirts until the chieftain approaches. The moment you see him start to charge for me, ride from behind and end him. Got it?"

"Sounds fine and dandy to me, ya tactical blowhard but how the hell do you expect to be able to attract all that attention and not get skewered?" Sully rolled her eyes. Robin gave what actually looked like a grimace before giving his response.

"Mage or not, I have a spell up my sleeve that will let me see this through, as loath as I am to use it."

"After how quickly you came up with that strategy, it would be wrong to question the authenticity of that statement." Frederick grunted before helping Lissa onto his steed. Chrom hopped onto Sully's horse, but before they rode off Chrom directed his attention back to the tactician.

"If you need immediate attention that Virion can't provide, send a spell into the air and we'll ride straight towards you." Chrom offered. Robin waved him and Sully off and stepped out in front of the fort. Almost immediately a couple of Risen charged at him.

Robin took out a bronze sword hidden within his coat and took up stance. The first of the two risen swung its axe with reckless abandon, and Robin was immediately forced on the defensive. He ducked under a horizontal axe swing and slashed at the knees of the zombie. It gave a startling screech and fell to the ground, but began crawling towards Robin in a drunken rage. A switch to his left hand and a wind spell later decapitated the monster, but the second one charged straight at him with an iron lance. Robin was about to prepare another spell, but an arrow pierced the Risen directly between the eyes, and it fell flat on its back. Robin looked toward Virion and gave him an appreciative nod and took up stance once again.

Frederick immediately speared a Risen and tossed it off his lance. He brought his horse to a stop and prepared to charge again, but the horse refused to budge. Moving his hand to the side, he saw a line of red dripping down the horse's neck. He growled and turned behind him. "Milady, could you heal my steed? It seems the last of them nicked her."

"Well of course, like I'll just leave your horse in pain." Lissa huffed before holding her heal staff to the horse and channeling briefly. The horse bucked briefly at the flesh being stitched together forcefully, but settled down after a moment. "All better, but we should probably not try that again or the wound will reopen. If I heal the same spot more than once in this short of a time frame it might cause permanent damage."

"Will do. We will ride back to Robin and regroup." Lissa nodded happily and looked back towards the fort. Frederick noticed her face pale and her hands shake.

"Uh, forget what I said just now. Get to Robin fast, he's having trouble with that hammer one!" Lissa screamed, pointing to where Robin was currently holding one of his arms and only dodging the massive swings. Frederick immediately kicked his horse into gear and went full throttle towards Robin.

Robin dragged his body against its will left and right, barely dodging the monstrously strong swings that nearly grazed his jaws. A faulty dodge left his right arm useless and his body stumbling, and now he could only bide time until the risen made a mistake. He saw Frederick charging straight at him, lance at a direct line with the Risen's head. Surprisingly, this risen seemed to actually have some self-preservation and began to backpedal. Seeing his opening, Robin pulled out a Nosferatu tome. Using a spell requiring extreme focus with one hand was risky, but he had to hold the Risen still or else it would smash through Frederick's armor. Using the last of his current power he held his tome out and surrounded the risen with the ghastly energy. He began to sap the risen of its life force, holding it in place as he felt his arm slowly repairing itself. It burned every fiber of his body, feeling the bone snap back into place wasn't exactly the best of feelings, and it nearly broke his concentration.

Frederick speared the risen straight through the skull, and it actually stuck onto the lance for a brief time before it dissipated. Robin sunk to the ground with his tome discarded to his side. He gave an appreciate wave towards Frederick and he rode up to the tactician.

"Impressive decision-making, sir." Frederick nodded in his direction before his expression shifted to one of scrutiny. "Although, personally I'd wish there was a lack of dark magic in your tactics. I'd prefer not to taint Naga's lands with that disturbing force." Lissa gave Frederick a withering glare, but she didn't exactly disagree. She held up her staff and mended the rest of Robin's wounds. He was still lacking in any bit of energy to use more magic but at least he wasn't bleeding out anymore.

"Trust me, I hate dark magic as much as the next guy." Robin groaned, getting up from the ground. "It was the only thing I had to hold that monster in place though, and my morals don't outweigh my will to live." Robin let out a mirthless chuckle. _Memories spanning little more than a week and I've already almost died. Something tells me this will be a recurring theme._ Frederick raised his eyebrow at the mention of him detesting dark magic.

"I thought you were the adviser to King Gangrel. Not to mention your position within the Grimleal cult, I find it very hard to believe you don't like dark magic."

"I'm sure your network has told you I lack any memories at the moment. The only thing that's gave me any direction was my coat and the power it simply grants me, and sadly the power it grants me is something that tears at my being." Robin explained. "Dark magic leaves an invisible, but physical mark on anyone who uses it. It's like being branded as a criminal. Some find themselves able to bear the weight, others not. I find myself exceedingly proficient at it for whatever reason, but it does not sit well with me." Frederick stood motionless for a moment, then let out a sigh.

"Your story is sound, I have nothing to prove otherwise. Do not mistake my skepticism for hostility sir, especially after you saved my life but there are many ways that your story can be spun." Robin gave a flippant wave in response. Frederick took that as queue to explain further. "Regardless of your story, an inherent distrust is present due to Plegia's recent…pillaging of the countryside." Robin shrugged in response, but Frederick could see some pain behind his eyes.

"Don't remind me, I'm in charge of that whole mess." Robin bit out. The mood would've been a bit more somber had Lissa not started giggling at his lack of tact. Robin grinned her way. "Huh. Guess I'm good for something other than tactics. If this doesn't work out, court jester might be a suitable position." Lissa let out full-blown laughter at that, and Frederick had to actually catch her before she fell off the horse.

"Okay, please don't give me the image of you in a funny hat and curly shoes again." Lissa hiccupped, trying not to laugh again. "I can't think of you as our tactician if that keeps popping up."

Robin smiled, but his expression betrayed the shock he felt. _She thinks of me as their tactician already? How trusting are these people?! I've told them I'm a royal adviser to an enemy state and truthfully, if you look at it, only started helping them out of concern for my safety and now I'm considered 'part of the gang'? How have these morons survived so far…probably the knight. I think he's the only one with his head on straight here. Wait a minute, where's Chrom?!_ Robin whirled around to see Chrom dueling one-on-one with the Risen chieftain with Sully knocked over with her horse seemingly fretting over her. Chrom was parrying every blow that came for him, but it seemed that he couldn't find an opening.

Robin left the others in the dust, pushing himself towards the Ylissean. Chrom saw Robin coming for him, and stopped looking for an opening. Going specifically on the defensive, he brought up his sword in the standard Ylissean knight stance, forgoing his personal aggressive stance. It didn't exactly feel comfortable, but it was certainly better for keeping himself out of harm's way, or being stabbed in general.

Robin moved his tomes to his coat and brought his sword to his side, moving his body faster than his newly healed muscles would like him too. Every movement felt like fire dancing on his body, and they screamed at him for every step. He ignored them, pushing his body further. He moved his right hand within his coat pocket, flipping open a wind tome and channeling the magic one-handed. He jumped and shot it behind himself, launching himself towards the enemy.

Chrom saw the tactician literally flying towards him, and ignored his shock and parried the latest sword slash upwards. The zombie was knocked off balance and his hands flew upward, sword out of his hand. It growled at him but before it could take an unarmed swing at him, Chrom flung himself backwards, nearly throwing his own sword out of his grip. Robin flew past the monster with his sword out, the risen's head flopped onto the ground like a dead fish as the body disintegrated. Chrom got up from where he flung himself and briefly saw the tactician fly past him and roll onto the ground, barely stopping time to not smack himself right on the trunk of a tree. Robin patted himself down after a brief moment of looking shocked that he was alive. He got up and proceeded to dust himself off without another word. Looking over to see that Sully was being taken care of by Lissa and Frederick, he jogged over to Robin.

"Mind telling me why _that_ was never mentioned in the plans? What in Naga's name was that?" He gave a flabbergasted expression towards the priest. Robin gave a brief laugh before assuming his standard expression which looked somewhere between 'completely unenthusiastic' and 'calculating every movement made'.

"There was no way you and I could take down that risen chieftain even outnumbering it, so I went for a bolder strategy." Robin explained. "The idea to use wind to push myself forward is not my own, I assure you."

"Then who the hell came up with that?"

"A friend of mine. I knew it would work since I was the test dummy when he first tried it." Robin answered flatly. Chrom shook his head before probing even further. "Well thanks for saving me but uh, any reason you look pissed beyond reason?"

Robin raised his eyebrows before nodding and letting out a momentary cough. He looked up at Chrom once again but with a much softer expression. He looked like an entirely different person, truthfully. "Sorry, I get into a mood when it comes to the battlefield it seems. Most tacticians sit behind a desk, but I seem to find myself in the midst of combat whether I want to or not. I've learned to adapt by compartmentalizing." Chrom sighed in relief.

"Finally, a tactician that isn't a stuck-up jackass." Chrom groaned. Robin laughed with Chrom following suit, both unable to stop at the crude wording. Frederick rode up and looked between the two before clearing his throat to garner attention.

"The battlefield is clear, milord. Tactician." Frederick nodded at both of them. "No one sustained fatal injuries, and Sully is stable. You on the other hand sir, have angered the princess to no end." Frederick gave a pointed glare at Robin, who gave a nervous chuckle in response. "Why would you not simply alert myself to assist milord instead?" Robin shrugged in response.

"One mounted unit was down, didn't want to try again with the same strategy." Robin responded.

"And launching yourself with magic is a positive substitute?"

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Hey, stop working Robin up, I need to yell at him!" Lissa stomped her way over to the two laughing nobles and pushed her shocked retainer out of the way. A loud 'thunk' dictated Lissa smacking Robin over the head with her staff, and a yelp confirmed it. "I didn't even get to fully heal you yet after your dumb dark magic stunt, and you launch yourself across the plains with magic!" Lissa threw up her hands in exasperation. "Why even bother healing you? Your wounds are just going to rip open anyway! Had I known you were going to do something so stupid I would have just left you there in the first place!"

Lissa continued to rant and ramble, and Robin briefly resigned himself to the verbal gymnastics being unleashed on him like rabid dogs. He looked at Chrom briefly who gave him a shrug and a grin in response. Looked like this was a common occurrence. It probably would have gone on longer than the few minutes of ranting had the rest of the party walked in the direction of the loud rant. Virion simply sat on the sidelines watching, and shot a look of warning towards Sully. She gave a brief nod and shuffled to the side without a single word along with Virion. Far from them to stop Lissa when she's in a tizzy. Marth pushed past them and announced his presence rather loudly. "Congratulations on the victory this day." He interrupted, garnering all the attention. "This won't be the last of these monsters, the future will only turn for the worse. What you've seen today is only the start of a reckoning, cut these monsters down wherever you may find them." Robin rolled his eyes, having apparently gathered himself back to his neutral expression and gave a brief click of the tongue.

"Yes, because if I saw these creatures I'd just assume its fine and leave them there." Robin mocked, but Marth only seemed to tilt his head, leaving Robin deflated. _Perhaps I'll leave the joking around to Lissa._

"Wait, where are you going?" Chrom asked, picking himself up to a presentable state. Marth nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Which direction would be a march to Ferox?" Marth questions.

"About a 3 days march to the North." Frederick responded, pointing his lance in said direction. He narrowed his eyes the masked man and continued. "What exactly do you plan to do going to Ferox? Dropping from the sky is a more than suspicious action, never mind Sir Robin appearing from literal thin air." Frederick could swear he heard a soft whistle and a 'I get a title now too?' from said tactician, but he ignored it.

"I am…meeting a friend there." Marth bit out. An obvious lie, anyone could see that but Lissa stepped him and stomped her foot down before he could be questioned further.

"Freddy, let him go! He already fought with us and saved my life." She said, angrily waving her staff at the knight. "None of our guests here today should even bother being questioned. They fought for Ylisse, didn't they?" Frederick was about to speak up, but Lissa pushed further. "Did they, or did they not Knight Captain?"

Frederick gave a rare flinch. That was not a tone he was used too, that was for sure. It mirrored an angry Emmeryn perfectly, anger not through yelling but by pure verbiage. If he had taken a double take, he would've sworn he saw Her Grace lecturing him rather than the youngest. He gave a deep bow and turned his head once towards both Robin and Marth.

"Apologies to both of you, what Milady says is true." Frederick sighed. "You fought for Queen and Country today, and for that you've earned our thanks. My duty is to milord and milady's safety, I request that you do not take this as an offense."

Marth, Chrom, Virion, and Sully all looked absolutely floored, seeing the stoic knight essentially get knocked down a peg by someone nearly two feet shorter than him. Robin on the other hand moved towards Frederick and gave him a slap on the back. Frederick raised an eyebrow at Robin, who had a shark-like grin on his face.

"She'd make a wonderful queen one day." Robin said to no one in particular, though turning Lissa beet red. "And you my friend, are already my favorite knight in the realm. The wyvern knights in Plegia are such…excuse me for my Feroxi, hardasses." Robin waved flippantly, earning a bark of a laugh from Chrom. "This guy knows when he's messed up and actually admitted to it. Not only that, but he's _actually_ good at his job! What will it take to hire you?" Frederick gave him a deadpan look.

"My life is to my lord and lady, Sir Robin."

"Ah, my bad. I was merely impressed." Robin stepped away, folding his arms behind his back. Marth eventually walked off without a word.

Chrom walked up to Robin, and gave his own formal bow. "Now that the fighting is over, proper introductions are in order. My name is Chrom, brother to her Grace Emmeryn and leader of the Shepherds. You've met my sister Lissa, and my retainer Frederick. Is this your first formal visit to Ylisse?"

"I wouldn't say this is a formal visit persay…" Robin stretched the neck of his coat. "It's more of a 'get teleported here by a psychopathic scholar so the psychopathic king doesn't execute me for wanting to visit an enemy nation' visit."

"W-well whatever the reason may be, it's a pleasure to meet you, Plegian or not." Chrom smiled, and Robin put his hand out.

"I may not be able to speak on behalf of Plegia, certainly due to not having been formally announced yet, but from citizen to citizen my visit here has been hospitable." Robin stopped. "Well, except for the zombies. That normal around here?" Chrom shook his head, and Robin let loose a rogue 'huh.' Regardless Robin shook Chrom's hand firmly and a prideful grin overtook Chrom's features. Had he not been with Gangrel he'd thought he'd hit the motherload! A tactician who pulls his weight, isn't a snob, and genuinely has respect for both nations? If only he'd been the one to find him passed out in a field!

"You said you are a high Hierarch for the Grimleal." Frederick interrupted, getting the conversation back on the original topic. "You've told me you despise dark magic, but what reason would you have to join the Grimleal besides your coat?"

Robin looked around to see if there was any unfavorable observers, and luckily Virion and Sully seemed to be bickering further away and out of direct earshot. Robin carefully removed his left hand from his coat, and displayed the back to his audience. The gasps were what he generally expected.

"I am branded, a mark to the god." Robin explained. "Unlike Naga, bloodline isn't always a deciding factor for Grima. Could be many reasons, true devotion, a woman sacrificing her unborn young, and etcetera. Whatever my reason may be, I've had this mark since my first memory a week or so ago. Whatever my past life was, the coat and my brand prove to be my connection, loath I am to admit."

"Not a fan of destruction, eh?" Chrom joked lightly, hoping to brighten the mood.

"Only controlled destruction of enemy forces."

"That's…terrifying, but respectable."

"If you noticed, I tend to use my right hand for nearly every task, despite the fact that my brand is on my left." Robin explained. "It feels…off to use this hand for anything war related. I work to save lives, not end them. Do you know the mythos behind the brands in Plegia?"

"Mythos?" Lissa questioned. "What do you mean?" Robin cleared his throat.

"Unlike in Ylisse, where a brand is just a general connection to a god of some kind, in Plegia the tale goes that where the brand appears can be divined as how the god thinks of you. For example, Chrom, I see your brand on your shoulder. One of the hardest parts of the body, it could be divined that Naga thinks of you as her strength. For me, on my hand… it more feels like I'm doing his dirty work. Like a lackey. This hand is his will, and I refuse to carry it out." Robin's expression looked grim, and Frederick noticed a lack of light in his eyes that only an old war veteran should have.

"Woah…" Lissa said, awestruck and completely unaware of the apparent turmoil Robin was facing. She then struck a rather dour look. "But my brand still hasn't shown yet…does that mean Naga doesn't think of me as anything?" She looked as if she was about to cry, and Chrom shot Robin a look. The white-haired man figured that look to be _'you solved this issue so fix it'._ He rolled his eyes and continued.

"Your brand will appear within time." He admonished. "A brand can appear as late in to someone's life at the last year of their life, or as soon as a week after birth. It simply comes down to fate." Lissa seemed validated by his words, and didn't ask another question about it. She wasn't entirely satisfied, but she could work with it for now.

"You know, considering you are from an enemy state with a rather high position you seem to be fairly calm in the face of the relatives of the Exalt." Chrom pointed out. Robin simply shrugged.

"I know the Demon King's misdeeds, his mark is left across womb and soil." Robin recited bleakly, as if he'd repeated it several times already. Chrom winced, but he continued nonetheless. "To hold a maiden of peace's ideals to the same value of that madman would be improper, regardless of bad blood. One day Ylisse will find peace with Plegia, whether by war or diplomacy. It is far from our time, though ones such as us I would hope could begin that trek forward. Ylisse will end up being the ones to ease Plegia's pain, whether they will like to admit it or not. You cannot commit such a sin unpunished."

Chrom nodded sadly, but accepted his words. "It does this land good to see at least one political figure not look to burn my nation down, that's for sure."

"I am one against many. I can only stave off war so long." Robin said plainly. Frederick looked alarmed at the mention of war, and stood in front of his lord.

"You would have Plegia go to war against this nation regardless?" Frederick challenged, though Robin only shook his head.

"It's not my doing. War is coming, whether you want it or not. The Mad King demands it, and he'll have his war one way or another." Chrom groaned and rubbed a weary hand across his face.

"Well that's all well and good," he mumbled sarcastically. "But how am I supposed to tell Emm that? She's been so blind to the prospect of war by upholding her peace, it'll end up killing her at this rate. She'll never listen to what I have to say."

It was true, Emmeryn refused adamantly to aknowledge any mention of military combat. If their father was a warmonger, she was the direct opposite, but Chrom knew that neither side of this extremism was going to solve the issue. Any mention that a bandit had a plegian accent was shrugged off and support was sent to the way of the ones who suffered, but no direct solution was ever reached. It gave Ylisse a symbol to rally behind, and he could tell that was part of her plan. She wanted to inspire hope, but hope can only go so far when fire burns the soil.

The group stood in silence for a time, the dreary reality setting in for each of them. While Lissa and Chrom seemed more unnerved than anything, both Frederick and Robin seemed to be deep in thought. A loud snap of fingers alerted the attention of the Ylisseans, and the soft laughter from the Plegian confused them all. It unnerved them more-so when it developed into a full-blown cackle. The display was gone as soon as it had come though, and Robin was left with a mischievous grin on his face. Lissa actually moved behind Frederick again, mumbling about 'court jesters'.

"Allow me to do some planning on my side, I think I have skeleton of a strategy blooming. There may be a way to save civilian lives yet."

"What do you plan to do, Hierarch?" The knight asked.

"I cannot reveal my plan, in due time it will be made readily apparent. What you have shown me today has proven which side upholds the moral standard regardless of history, and it the kindness will be paid in full." Robin's grin vanished, and he gave a pointed look towards Chrom. "Let your sister know war is coming. Do not instigate, though I doubt she would do so in the first place. Have your army prepare for war, but do not make a move."

"What?" Chrom asked, bewildered with the sudden instructions. He just met the guy, and he was telling him how to function his entire army? It was madness!

"Bide your time, and wait for a signal. I will appear within your sight again when everything is in motion." Robin reached a hand into the open hood hanging around his neck and revealed what seemed to be a small crow. Ignoring the confused and rather shocked looks on his audience's faces, he lifted his hand up, and the crow flew. Not a few seconds after, just as he appeared he was gone in a flash of light. Lissa gasped.

"A rescue staff!" She shouted. "Someone literally just picked him up with magic! I guess the release of the bird was a signal of some kind?"

"Whatever it may be, he appears to be allied with us at the moment." Frederick said after a moment of silence. "I cannot deny that he fought for our country, and had many moments in which he could have attacked the both of you. While it isn't impossible to rule out a larger scheme at hand, it would be a waste of recourses to do so if Gangrel plans to go to war." Frederick hoisted Lissa up bodily onto his horse, eliciting a surprised squeak from the princess. "We must make haste to Her Grace and give her Sir Robin's word. I fear it would prove more dangerous not to tell her about this meeting than to keep it from her."

"You're right." Chrom nodded. "Sully, Virion! Saddle up, we're marching back to the Halidom's capital. Robin gave us a suggestion of what to do, and I'll be damned if I lose a family member to a lack of trust. Mother would never forgive me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey y'all, Bitsar here once again for another update. I want to reiterate that this will _not_ be a recurring theme that I update so often and so quickly, I am of the mentality that writing is a marathon and not a race. I just have a ton of free time. Thank you to the few who have reviewed and the many that have favorited or followed, it certainly helps me move forward in my writing process. In response to one review, I do want to make a specific statement on Robin.**

 **He's not evil sadly, as fun as I know that would be to write. While he isn't evil, the intention is for him to be a darker, if not more focused version of Robin from the game. That doesn't mean he won't be without his quirks or his funny moments, but part of the point of changing how he woke up is to put him in a different position, and give him another perspective. He's going to have to make a lot rough decisions and unique tactics earlier on to navigate the position he's been put into. Again, not evil but certainly not meant to be a goody-twoshoes. Trust me, I've read enough of that trope as well.**

 **Two last things. For one, there's a ton of characters in Awakening, so I will do what I can to give characters time in the limelight but know that not every character will be given equal screen-time. Some characters like Henry will be given significantly more screen-time than others simply because they are more like main characters than side characters. It will be clear in time who is meant to be more of a side character and who is meant to be out front. I will do what I can to give them each some time in the sun though. You can make a request if you want in a review, just please leave it alongside an actual review, even if its something along the lines of "great job, loved the chapter!" or whatever. I do want to improve while also listening to those who are reading. Codependent relationship and all that. Please do review though. It's super helpful.**

 **Lastly, I should've put this earlier but as you all know I don't own Fire Emblem. Property belongs to respective owners, simply using them to give others enjoyment. Enjoy everyone, stick around. Things are going to get a little dicey real soon.**

 **Edit: Fixed a few errors I somehow missed. Also a note I forgot, yes the announcer is a blatant reference to another game. Can you guess which it is? It's not hard to find.**

* * *

She did her best to hide it, but even Emmeryn herself was beginning to tire from the countless hours of bickering between the Noble Court of Ylisse's members. She had been sitting there among the large round table in the Ylissean war room for 2 hours in relative silence. The meeting was supposed to encompass 3 topics over the course of 45 minutes, and yet shortly after 10 minutes the older veterans of the group had been launched into a full-on verbal war over Plegia's newest addition. It was clear that the prevailing emotion among all of them was fear, but how they handled it had her wishing for her brother's regular audacity at the moment. The lack of barbarian attacks had them paranoid of things to come, and somehow even she was beginning to fear what they had in store. Although the mystery tactician was certainly less public than the previous ones.

"They have nothing but death in store for us!" One of the older members, Sir Daniel announced in a deep tone. He was a lord of many years in Ylisse and a well respected one by that, even by Her Grace herself. He did have a major flaw though, he was generally a pessimistic man if not a wise one. He didn't understand the respect the nation held for him, and so every now and then his un-rehearsed words could send people into a panic. "As much as I intend for Ylisse to stay peaceful your Grace, we must realize when death is knocking!"

"Be quiet old man, or you'll be dead in an hour from now if you work your heart rate up." A younger member mocked.

Emmeryn sorely wished for the entire thing to be over as she looked at the daylight fading from the window behind her, and she could feel her façade slipping. A frown began to etch its way onto her face, and the other members immediately took notice. An upset Exalt was never on any of their agendas, so they differed the topic.

"Your Grace, what do you propose we do?" Sir Daniel prompted, making Emmeryn give a soft 'hum' before responding.

"It pains me to repeat what I've said for months, but we have to wait and see." Emmeryn said, eliciting groans across the board from the members. She continued unperturbed despite the glares she was receiving. "I wish to stop these efforts as much as the rest of you for all of Ylisse, but we have to keep in mind that any efforts made will raise scrutiny among the populace. I refuse to follow my Father's legacy." There were grumbles by the board, but there were currently no dissenters. They wished for change, but without proper evidence to prove to the public of poor intentions, conspiracy will arrive through the nation. Granted there will be some regardless, but avoiding mass panic is a priority.

Before she could continue further, there was a knock on the locked door behind the younger member who spoke up earlier. He raised an eyebrow at Emmeryn, who simply gestured her hand for him to open the door. With a roll of his eyes he opened the door, and to his shock revealed a very large, and very intimidating Knight Captain. Hands folded behind his back, he moved towards the Exalt and gave a deep bow before announcing his presence.

"Your Grace, I bring dire news." Frederick said, grabbing the attention of the entire room. "Have you read the reports of the Risen threat spreading across the land? It's apparently infected Ylisse and Plegia." Emmeryn narrowed her eyes and nodded her head, Frederick continued. "Milord and Milady were coming back from a visit to Yllistol to check up on the civilians, and in the middle of the night we were attacked. Supposedly this is the first of the Risen attacks, and the rate at which they've been seen across the continent is staggering." Emmeryn shot up out of her seat, worry clouding her expression.

"By Naga, are they alright?" Emmeryn nearly shouted. She began to pace back and forth worriedly, mumbling to herself about Lissa. Normally any of the members among the board would take that sign of weakness as a poor visage for a leader, but even the least empathetic among the group knew why she was pacing. She acted as a mother to the rest of the royal family, and any of them being in danger was a constant worry of the Queen. Frederick interrupted her muttering.

"They are both uninjured, thanks to the efforts of one even I could not expect." Frederick sighed, moving to the side to let his lord Chrom through. He came in with a tight expression that Emmeryn hadn't seen in a long time, and she knew the news that he was about to deliver had ignited a fire inside him. Granted that was never good for her health, but she was used to it by now.

"Sis, I want to begin this by saying all of us nearly died two nights before." Chrom explained, to the shocked expressions of everyone present, minus Frederick. "As you know, we were assaulted by a group of Risen, and before I could even do anything Lissa's head was as good as gone had it not been for a timely savior. In fact, Frederick was also in mortal peril but someone interfered against the Risen." Emmeryn closed the distance between them in an instant, wrapping her arms around her brother. Chrom actually failed to realize what was happening for a brief moment before hugging back. His sister wasn't really one for public displays of affection unless she was under a lot of stress, so he let her have a minute before she broke apart. He said no word about it, but an unbidden tear ran across his sister's face. He understood her sudden display though, hearing that not only her most loyal knight and her baby sister almost died would put anybody in a state of distress.

Chrom walked back towards the front of the room and addressed his whole audience with as much authority as he could muster. "The savior of my most loyal retainer was none other than Gangrel's newest adviser." There were shocked gasps across nearly all at once, and some laughs of disbelief. Emmeryn was the only one who showed no immediate outside emotion, but Chrom saw his sister's wide eyes. Chrom ignored the few rolling their eyes and continued. "He came here without the permission of his lord, and actually saved the life of Frederick from an enemy risen mage. Now anyone here who knows a modicum of combat knowledge would know that magic is a death sentence for any armored knight. We didn't even know who he was, he simply appeared in a flash of light, assessed the situation in the span of 2 seconds, and took it out in a single well-placed spell."

"Wait, Chrom." Emmeryn interrupted, clearly in disbelief. "You say he simply appeared in a flash of light?" Chrom actually gave a slight grin and a shrug with raised eyebrows in response.

"Well…yeah. Turns out to sneak out of his country he had a scholar reverse engineer a rescue staff to port himself away from the cast location. Lissa is currently working with our mage tower to see if she can replicate the effect. They've had no such luck so far."

The group seemed to be relatively satisfied with the answer, they had no evidence to prove otherwise as crazy as it sounds. Frederick took Chrom's place in front of the group as his lord moved out of the way. "The man's name is Robin, and he apparently had planned to visit Ylisse to seek Milord out of all people for what he called an interview. He directed our entire group during the invasion and despite being heavily outnumbered, we all escaped with no critical injuries. The rumors are true, he is a master of tactics, while showing combat techniques as well." The news actually seemed to upset the board more than placate them, and another one of the members, a middle aged man who looked far older than his real age portrayed spoke up.

"Great, so Gangrel finally has someone competent close to him." He growled, pointing a wrinkly, accusing finger at Chrom. "You should have killed him while you had the chance! You could have just doomed our entire country by letting that desert mole run free!" The man, Sir Harold yelled, stunning Chrom. The shock was quickly replaced by a seething rage, and he walked up and physically grabbed Harold by the collar.

"You would have me kill the man who saved my Knight Captain's life in cold blood simply because of his origin?! You are no better than the retainers of my father!" Harold had a fearful expression on his face, and Emmeryn quickly moved between them, pushing Chrom away.

"Go on Chrom, did he say anything else?" She asked, but he could tell the question was more of a demand. She had to know more if she was to act, and Chrom understood that. He quelled his rage for now and stared deep into his sister's eyes, searching for weakness. When he found none, he finally spoke up.

"He said to start to mobilize the army, but do not act." He announced loudly. The monstrous arguing that quickly ensued was quelled quickly. "Quiet!" He screamed, silencing the room. "He warned us that he can only placate war for so long, Gangrel wishes for war no matter what. He's currently crafting a plan to help us, stating that we were on the right side. Emmeryn, he wanted to deliver a direct message to you; he does not blame you for the fault of our father, but we cannot turn a blind eye to the death's of the innocent. He said to not do anything to instigate a war, but to prepare to defend our nation. We will know when his plan is in action when he appears in front of us again."

The room sat in contemplative silence, digesting the information presented to them. It was a dangerous plan, to civilians might become skeptical of the army's new movement patterns, but at the same time having information from the inside, and someone so close to Gangrel for that matter was invaluable. Simply ignoring what he said would put them in direct opposition with Robin, and that would swiftly change his mind on who held the ground for right and wrong. Not only that, but besides preparation they simply had to bide their time until he was ready to enact his scheme? It was ludicrous, and downright dangerous to go with his word, but what other choice did they have? If Gangrel truly meant for war at any cost, it would be foolish to disregard the information regardless of potential consequences.

Emmeryn was the first to speak up in quite a long while. "Chrom. I have a mission for your shepherds." She said, an oddly serene look on her face despite recent developments. Chrom knew what it meant, she now had peace of mind and a plan going forward. "You are to go to Ferox as an official diplomat to forge an alliance between our two nations for the upcoming conflict."

"Your Grace!" Sir Daniel shot up, panic flashing across his features. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? You might be accused of actions close to your father!"

"We have no other choice Sir Daniel, but I thank you for your concern. The reward will outweigh the risks if my brother is to be believed, which he is." Emmeryn shook her head, and her hands flowed. An open palm pointed upward motioned towards the door. "By my word this meeting is adjourned. I shall alert my military advisers of plans going forward, and my brother has his role. For now the rest of you are to prepare for wherever you are sovereign of in our great nation for this as well. Your participation is critical to our success, and failure to comply will result in devastation for all of us. Do I make myself clear?"

There was a unanimous sound of affirmation, and they quickly filed out of the room. Most of them exchanged quick, worried glances with each other at the news but otherwise made themselves scarce at their Exalt's word. Chrom stood motionless in front of his sister, still processing the role he was just given. After everyone including Frederick had left (the Knight Commander kindly closing the door behind him), Chrom sighed and sat down in one of the now empty seats, rubbing a tired hand over his face. Emmeryn said nothing as she stared out of the window in the room, deep in thought. It took a few minutes before either of them spoke up, but Chrom was the first one to speak.

"Ferox, huh?" He mused, rubbing a hand over his brand. "Guess I'll need to pack a coat." The joke didn't have much mirth behind it though, and Chrom glanced over at his sister. He wasn't sure if she was listening, but he continued anyway. "I'm sorry that what you've tried to avoid for so long, but we can only turn a blind eye for so long, sis." A sigh, the sound floating like mist across the room greeted his ears, verifying that she was listening.

"I understand, and I was foolish to think otherwise." Emmeryn said plainly, turning back towards her brother. He looked away when he saw the faraway look in her eyes. "I still wonder, what possessed our father to invade Plegia like he did? There was no advantage to it. Has that ever crossed your mind? And why did mother have no qualms against it?"

Chrom was speechless. He had never thought about it before, he always just assumed his father was a tyrant. He just wanted the land and the rule, right? If that was the truth though, then why had he paraded around the year before the invasion talking about the pride of his nation? Ylisse never prided itself on its ability to invade, only to survive the harshest.

"There's more going on between our nations than we know Chrom, at a level that humanity cannot grasp." The words rung in Chrom's ears, and he shot up out of his seat, eyeing his sister.

"You think Naga has something to do with this?" Emmeryn expression faltered, and she stumbled. Chrom was about to run over to catch his sister before she righted herself without another word and she looked at him. He blinked, he thought he saw a look in his sister's eyes that he never saw before, but he dismissed it.

"I can't truly fathom what exactly is happening. No one can, but we must be careful of what is to come…" Chrom wondered what his sister truly meant, but she walked out of the room without another word.

* * *

Henry bounced through the halls, counting the guards and entryways without a care in the world. Well, there's a _slight_ care in his mind he admitted to himself as he set about his weird task. His buddy Robin had asked him to do a rather peculiar thing, which was to count every unique face in the castle and every single entryway that led outside. Despite agreeing to it without another word, Henry did find it kinda odd. Why would he want to know that? Was he trying to find each spot where he could skewer someone? Oh he hoped so, that would be so fun!

He had recently sent Robin away with the rescue staff he messed with, to which he lovingly dubbed the "Go Away Staff" and was currently waiting for him to return so he could tell him the information he wanted. While he wanted to go into the wilderness and spend some time with his furry buddies, Henry had to finish the job Robin gave him or else he'd probably be really mad! _Well maybe he wouldn't be really mad, but that frown can be so upsetting, nyhahaha!_

Henry was finishing his counting in the West Wing of the castle when a puff of smoke in front of him made him stop in his tracks. His smile only grew, but he began to finger the waste spell inside of his coat. Lucky him, it turned out to be one of his buds Gaius who gave him a simple wave and flicked a small bit of candy towards Henry. Henry's eyes lighted up and actually managed to catch the piece and pop it in his mouth. It was a little game they did every now and then, where Gaius would pop up out of nowhere and if Henry caught the piece, he could keep one of Gaius' exotic and rare candies.

"Hey Junior. Bubbles is back and he wants us in his office" Gaius explained, waving Henry forward. He bounced towards Gaius' stride and tilted his head like a lost puppy.

"Oooh, does he want me to hex something? Oh the excitement has me going caw-razy, nyahaha!" Henry giggled, swinging his arms back and forth. Gaius shook his head and donned a slightly more serious expression. Henry knew the sign, that meant the meeting was actually of important nature, and one of the few things that the ginger-haired thief took seriously. Granted it always meant something fun was about to happen, so he was down for it.

"He says with the information you gathered and what he sent me out for, he has a plan he wants to execute, and trusts only us for it." Gaius elaborated, giving Henry a shifty smile. "Think Bubbles finally has his eyes on someone? What about that busty dark-mage that seems to cling to his side every now and then?" Henry gave a brief hum before shaking his head.

"Nah, he pushes her away every chance he gets. Which is every time she's there!" Henry laughed, petting a crow that randomly landed on his head. Charleston, the bird, was a _flighty_ one, he had to admit! "He told me earlier that he doesn't have time for 'pointless' stuff like that, and would only look for love if he finally found someone who actually caught his fancy. I think he's being a stick in the feather, but he does have a more important position than us. He really doesn't have any time for it."

Gaius didn't respond verbally, only shaking his head as they walked in silence towards Robin's office. Robin's office was in the North Wing of the castle on the third floor of the four-floor castle. According to Gangrel, the higher the flooring the higher the status, and being so close to the king himself let him be on the third floor. Gangrel was the only one who slept and worked in the fourth, since insisted that as king, he was above all. Granted it was true, but Henry never saw the appeal in it. That just means he would be further away from his materials, he couldn't have that! Henry slept on the 2nd floor, along with the rest of the scholars while Gaius slept on the first. He would have a higher position, but he was kept lower due to the criminal's brand on his arm.

Eventually they found their way in front of the office, and Gaius gave three knocks, with a breath of space between the second and third. There was the sound of shuffling paper being thrown around like a rag doll before Robin opened the door, gesturing them inside without a word. Robin closed the door behind them as they sat in the luxurious, red leather seats in front of the main desk. The desk itself was cluttered beyond reason, papers of Ylissean army movements strewn about alongside a map of the layout of the royal castle where the Exalt resides. Henry found it suspicious but said nothing, deciding to hum himself a tune while Robin sorted through the rest of his papers.

Speaking of Robin, he had to admit he looked like a walking corpse! His eyes were sunken in and his movements were slow, as if every one of his muscles ached. In fact, he gave an odd glare towards Henry as he shuffled about the room. Probably had to do with the fact he didn't let Robin prepare before sending him on his trip. He gave him the rescue crow, what else did he need? Robin eventually sat down and bored holes into them with his gaze, which actually made Gaius shift uncomfortably. Robin's shoulders eventually slumped, and his gaze eventually leveled out.

"So I need you two to keep this as a secret." Robin started. Henry was about to speak up about how he's bad at keeping secrets, but Robin's swiftly motioned his hand upwards and continued. "And no, I'm not talking about me just going to Ylisse. I need total and absolute trust. If you are unable to offer me your loyalty, the door is behind you." Robin exclaimed, eyeing their responses. Gaius simply slung an arm over his chair and flicked his lollipop. Henry admitted to himself that Robin was one of the first few people besides Gaius to accept his…unique tendencies, so why not? Henry continued to sit where he was, flashing a toothy grin towards his friend. Robin seemed accepting of their wordless response, and shuffled his hands together.

"Bubbles, you've had our trust since we found your poor sod of a bum passed out in the middle of the desert." Gaius joked, causing Henry to go into a laughing fit. "Spill the beans so we can get the meeting over with. I have a lovely lass I'm meeting in an hour and I need to find something that doesn't have candy stuck to it."

Robin seemingly decided to not comment on that last part, and brought out more papers of Ylisse's castle layout. He pointed towards an 'X' he had made on a small square on the top of the paper, to which Henry could figure was the throne room. Alongside those there were red lines denoting passageways in and out of the castle, including what seemed to be a small part of the wall that acted as an entryway as well. The line that led from there was marked purple instead of red though, and clearly held some significance.

"I'd put this bluntly. I'm planning an assassination attempt of the Exalt." Henry's grin turned sly, and he leaned forward excitedly. Gaius' reaction was significantly less tame and he nearly fell out of his chair as he stared panicked at his friend. Robin shook his head at the responses, folding his arms with a disapproving stare. "Tell me; do you really think I would actively wish for the Exalt's death." He turned to Henry. "Henry, here's a test. What strategical value would me attempting an assassination attempt have after specifically telling the shepherds to tighten their security?"

Henry thought for a moment. At surface level, it seemed like a mission for a death squad. Robin had an annoying tendency to try for as little bloodshed as possible (unless specifically told otherwise), so there had to be another reason. "…You don't intend to have her assassinated at all, nyahaha!" Henry burst into laughter. "It's a trap for our own army to waltz into, isn't it? I'd say you're out of your mind, but you barely have the memories to have one!"

"I will refrain from commenting on that last part as well." Robin muttered, tossing one of the blank papers beside him over his shoulder. "But you are correct, and that's why I called you here. I plan to defect and join the Shepherds, should the position be offered." Robin announced, making Henry smile more. Now _this_ was interesting!

"Quite the ballsy move, Bubbles." Gaius stated, standing up and stretching. "I'm down for it." Robin blinked.

"Wait, you are? That's it?"

"Sure," Gaius shrugged, smiling at his bewildered tactician. "I have no ties to this country outside of the nut-job on the throne, and any place that pays more is fine by me. I'm a thief after all." Robin sat speechless, but a soft smile etched onto his face.

"I'm with you as well, nyhaha!" Henry said, nearly shaking in his seat. "Careful though, I'm gonna have to bring all my crows and stuff with me!" Henry smiled, but he thought for a moment. "By the way, just the three of us aren't going to be enough alongside the Exalt's gaggle to be able to take down all the invaders. We need more manpower." Robin's smile faded, before he snapped his fingers and pointed at Henry.

"You make an excellent point, Henry. Gaius, do we have any leads on a group that we could recruit to help us on our mission? Asking around the castle guards would be suicide." Gaius held up a finger as he popped another candy into his mouth, savoring the taste before speaking.

"Well, manpower would be nice but how about…bunny power?" Robin gave Gaius a flat look. Gaius chuckled at the response. "Okay, I don't mean just throwing bunnies at Gangrel as funny as that would be. I know your memory is a little thin at the moment, not your fault, but there was rumors running around lately. Have you heard of the Taguel during your studies?" Robin gave a shake of the head, and Gaius gave an expression of satisfaction. "Thought not. The Taguel are a near extinct race of people with the uncanny ability to turn into giant…rabbit people. I wish I was joking."

"Well if they're near extinct, how are we going to find one?" Robin responded. Henry's hand shot up.

"Oooh, ooh! The rumor states on the edge of our borders lies the last of the Taguel. Turns out she's been very sneaky about not getting tracked down. Ya know, really stinks what happened to them! Had I been there I would've slaughtered red those people myself!" Henry laughed, completely unaware of the rolling eyes that ran across the room like a plague.

"So, the goal here is that we recruit this giant bunny person to help us defend the Exalt." Robin recited, a small laugh escaping his lips. "You know what, that's still not the weirdest thing I've heard all week." Robin's expression once again turned serious as he turned to Henry. "Henry, I'm going to commandeer a personal escort for you to get to the edges of Plegia safely in 2 days time. Gaius will be coming along as well. Your job is to successfully recruit the last remaining Taguel onto our side. Considering you're friends with nearly every friend in the forests, you are our safest bet." Henry nodded happily but ended up throwing Robin a questioning look- or what Robin could decipher as a questioning look since he never opened his eyes or not smiled.

"I mean that's great, but wouldn't teleporting there using the staff be faster and _much_ more fun?"

"Well we've only got one staff at the moment, and we can seemingly only port one person at a time. Following that, we don't know how long until it will break because the staff was previously used." Robin stopped for a second, and gazed evenly at Henry. "And I do not feel safe sending you somewhere alone without supervision." Henry laughed and shrugged.

"Can't blame ya there, when do I get to go?"

"You will leave in 2 days, tell her that the Exalt's life is in danger two weeks from the day you meet just after dusk. Tell her about a hole in the outer walls of the castle hidden by a bush that she can sneak through. It should lead to just behind the castle, to where she can get inside as long as she's careful. Gaius, your job is to make sure nothing escalates. Let Henry be the one to speak to the Taguel, just interfere incase something goes wrong."

"Gotcha Bubbles." He got up and gestured towards the door. "C'mon Junior, we have some packing to do." Henry waved goodbye to Robin and followed his friend, closing the door behind him with a quiet click. They walked down the near empty hall in quiet, both contemplating the mission they've been given, and the connotations behind it.

Henry personally had never thought himself as a traitor to anyone, it was other people who betrayed him. The hunters in the village, his parents, he was always the victim of greed, never the one who started it. It felt weird, being placed in the shoes of the people he despised so quietly. The thought of betraying Gangrel, and Plegia, surprisingly didn't give him as much pause as he thought it was going to give him, but he had to give it to his friends. If they left, who would he have? He would have nothing tying him here to this nation besides a blank, unhappy past. He'd probably end up going to another place anyway, though he certainly didn't want to go back to the Grimleal.

Though as long as he got to keep his pets and Ylisse accepted his friends, he didn't mind sticking with them for a time. Maybe it'd be more fun, actually! He'd never seen the beautiful green fields of Ylisse, maybe they had more fuzzy friends for him to meet? He'd never met a bear before, and they sounded so cute! Maybe this change could be something to look forward too.

* * *

The sound of steel against steel rung through Chrom's core as he locked blades with the mysterious Marth in the middle of Arena Ferox. With more effort than he cared to admit he forced Marth back, shoving him away so he could regain his footing. He looked to his right to see Sumia and Vaike fending off two nameless mercenaries on Marth's side. Vaike, mid-swing of his axe toward one of the mercenaries gave Chrom a thumbs up, before putting himself back in "Teach's zone" and donning a more manic expression has he began his assault on the bewildered swordsman.

He could also hear the rather loud declaration of Frederick yelling at another horseman for 'disrespecting his lord with his awfully swordplay', which seemed to be a distraction so Kellam could sneak up on him. It seemed to work well enough, as just as the other man began to bark back at his retainer, an invisible force knocked him over and pined him with the butt of a lance, causing the crowd to cheer.

"Sparks are flying from both competitors!" The announcer cheered, egging on the crowd. The man was oddly built but his voice seemed to be higher than you would expect. He was a Feroxi with blond hair done up in a ponytail and, like Vaike, was completely shirtless despite it being, well, Ferox. "Falling asleep like that is going to make this a one-sided fight!"

It almost felt like the announcer was speaking to Chrom personally, as just as the words left the announcers lips a stab aimed right at Chrom's abdomen was only just dodged as Marth continued his assault. Chrom parried blow for blow, and the fight felt more like a dance as he continued to try and find an opening in his opponents offense.

Not to mention the fight felt like looking into a mirror for the man, albeit a slightly slimmer and faster mirror. Chrom had looked closer during the fight and realized the masked swordsman fought with a replica of his holy blade Falchion, which if he were honest unnerved him greatly. Emmeryn's words rung in his head as he fought, that powers outside of his control were at work. It seemed almost too close to what his current situation was.

"You fight well, but not well enough." Marth judged, holding his false blade parallel to his body.

Chrom shook the words away from his mind and rushed in, throwing just about every bait he could with his sword. Lessons of fencing classes came to mind from when he was a child, and he was hoping to lure Marth into a trap. He was admittedly out of his element, usually he just overpowered whoever he was up against (or pointed in the opposite direction to distract them should his opponent be Vaike), but that hadn't worked so far.

Marth once again seemed generally aware of his tactics, and pulled most of his sword swipes, hoping to keep Chrom from finding an opening. The noble gritted his teeth and quickly decided to ditch the strategy. If he was a win, he needed to play dirty. Any formal plan seemed to fail as far as his attempts had gone, so why not try something totally different?

Chrom brought up one of his hands from the hilt and held an open, gloved palm to the blade as he held it sideways. He pushed the blade against a vertical strike aimed at his shoulder, and didn't try to push the strike away. Instead he held it there, giving Marth the illusion that she would be able to overpower him eventually with enough force.

"They're eyeing each other warily!" The announcer yelled, sounding like his lungs were about to give out. His grin never faded though, and he pressed on. "They're both hanging tough!"

 _Not now, damnit! I need to focus!_ Chrom wanted to scream at the man, but having a sword pointed at your head was a good deterrent. Chrom bent down further on his knees, but he finally found an opening as Marth took a step forward. Chrom's left foot shot out from under him, kicking Marth right in the knee. He buckled, and as his head came down Chrom threw his head forward and slammed his head against the other swordsman, the impact enough to force to knock the man onto the ground on his back. Chrom took a step forward and pointed the tip of his sword and the downed man's neck.

"…I yield, you have won this day." Marth ground out.

"And there goes the battle!" The announcer celebrated, and the crowd erupted like the earth beneath them had a week ago. Chrom was confused, and he looked around to see every other competitor on Marth's team was down on the ground, with a shocked looking Sumia suddenly realizing that she had actually won a fight against another mercenary without the use of her horse. She looked at Chrom wide-eyed before running towards him.

"Sumia, wait! Your boots!" Chrom shouted too late, as a thud rivaling the noise of the crowd sounded across the arena as her face hit the dirt. She pulled herself up to just her knees as she shook her face.

"Ow…" Sumia muttered, shaking off the dirt. Chrom ran over worried while pointedly ignoring the smug grin that was coming from Lissa. He bent down and closely inspected her face for any dirt or damage. If he looked closer, he probably would have noticed that her face turned a bright shade of scarlet. With her heart beating through here ears she managed to shove her lord away from her, dusting off her Pegasus rider leggings and getting up. She threw him a smile despite the fact that she felt an oncoming headache. "S-sorry milord! M-my boots kept t-throwing me off…" Chrom just waved her off, easing her worries.

"It's all right, I'm impressed though!" Chrom exclaimed, sheathing his sword. "You fought on a level of a trained feroxi even though you didn't have your Pegasus with you." He gave her a broad smile and walked over, giving her a hearty pat on the back. She looked up with a hopefully expression. "Welcome to the Shepherds, you've proven yourself more than once-over for today." Her mouth formed a small 'o' shape and then broke out into a huge grin. She bodily tackled Chrom with a hug, nearly knocking over the man.  
"Thank you thank you thank you!" She babbled, and Chrom could definitely feel his shirt slowly getting damper. "I won't let you down, I'll do my best each time!" Chrom slowly grasped her shoulders and pushed her off of him, giving her an uneasy smile. Lucky for him, his recruiter came in laughing like a hyena.

"Alright, now that's what I call a brawl!" The woman guffawed, also giving Sumia a pat on the back, although hers nearly pushed her back down to her knees. "It's been too long since I've taken power back from that oaf Basilio, tonight we drink! Heavily!" The entire crowd cheered at her declaration, and who Chrom could only assume was the man who he just removed from power walked into the conversation with a massive grin on his face.

"Hahaha! Flavia will take any moment to drink, boy you better get ready to not know who you're waking up next to because a feroxi party is nothing compared to what you Ylissean prudes have ever seen!" Basilio laughed, giving a flippant wave to a worried-faced Chrom. "Bah, I can see the look in those young eyes, you're worried I'm gonna gut you clean. If anything I should thank you for getting those annoying advisers off my back, now I can drink without having to wake up early the next day!" Basilio wrapped an arm around Flavia's shoulder and the two marched off in a random direction, seemingly intent to follow up on their plans.

"Wait!" Chrom called after them. "Do we have your support Flavia?" She gave him a deadpan look that was swiftly followed up with a shark-like grin.

"You will if you prove that I can't drink you under the table in less than three shots." She challenged. Chrom looked over to Frederick, who gave him a a sigh and a nod, and Chrom shot Flavia a grin back.

"This will be the best mission I've ever had as a diplomat!" Chrom practically skipped over to here Basilio and Flavia were walking away, seemingly in his own world as he thought about the fun night ahead of him. Sumia blinked twice, still in shock over the events unfolding in rent of her. Frederick walked over to her, standing beside her as they watched their lord walk away.

"…You might want to follow milord." Frederick said without glancing at his campanion, making her jump out of her skin. She gave a worried glance towards Frederick and then back at her lord. She repeated the motion a few times, and turned to Frederick to speak but no words came out of her mouth. Only a wordless, panicked babble was what managed to come out.

She slowed herself down and weighed her options. Either way it was probably going to be a given that the Shepherds were celebrating with the Feroxi, so truthfully there was no reason she couldn't go with her cru- _lord._ Problem was it was so…embarrassing! She just soiled his shirt in the middle of a stadium! Not to mention she'd never been drinking in public, how would she act? She didn't want to be an angry drunk, but gods if she spilled her mind's eye without her knowing she'd have to quit the shepherds, flee Ylisse…

She began to run through the long, arduous process of how she'd erase her embarrassing existence from Chrom's mind. Frederick, taking notice of the…path her mind was taking decided to step in. "The sooner you join him, the faster you can join him before anyone else." Frederick said, without a further expression on his face. She looked up towards him. "It's no secret to me you hold feelings for milord. The sooner you act on said emotions, the faster you will find peace."

She stared, flabbergasted at the knight, but stopped when she digested what he said. He was right, she admonished. This was her moment! Holding up her fists in silent determination, she marched towards where her lord was walking. She almost tripped, but managed to save herself before she caught up with them. Frederick watched on.

"…If only milord wasn't so dense."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey there, Bitsar back once again. I actually had meant to update this two weeks ago, but certain things came up that prevented me from doing so. Those certain things being that I became sick one weekend, then had a life crisis the next. Interestingly enough both happened on the weekend, so here we are now. The wait until the next chapter won't be as long despite College intervening as I was able to still continue writing during the weekdays, so the next chapter is almost done. I'd expect that within a week or two.**

 **Onto an interesting problem, I actually wanted to ask the many of you a unique question, and that's about Emmeryn. Last chapter was interesting to write due to the issue of trying to find a foothold between Emmeryn being willing to defend her nation, and her pacifist ways. A problem I had with Awakening was her character slightly, in that she was at no point prepared to defend herself despite being an upgraded unit, a Sage. She can use healing magic and offensive magic, yet she was never at any point willing to actually defend the people of her nation, so I have come across a crossroads. This is an AU first and foremost so most possibilities are within reason, which is why I ask you all a question.**

 **One, what do you think of Emmeryn actually helping to defend the people of Ylisse rather than sitting behind the Shepherds. The issue becomes that she shatters this pacifist facade that she has brought for herself, yet it creates an interesting character study and breakdown that I can follow through with.**

 **The second issue I come across is her fate within the story. Unless you are someone who has randomly come across this story for no reason other than a drunken stupor on a Wednesday morning, you know what happens to Emmeryn. I could have her survive the event (not losing her memory but still suffering injury), but the question then becomes who remains the ruler of Ylisse? It would ruin Chrom's character advancement if he didn't become Exalt, yet what would Emmeryn do? Just stick around? She'd be recognized everywhere.**

 **I'll figure it out one way or another, but I would like the input of you all. Leave a suggestion in the review section and I'll factor that into the overall decision. Generally I'm not a fan of polls simply because just selecting "Option A" or "Option B" doesn't give me enough constructive ideas to put forth. Anyway, thank you all for tuning in once again and sticking around. Shorter chapter this time around, but next will be much longer. Enjoy.**

* * *

Henry dusted off his pants as he hopped off the formal carriage and stretched out his thin frame, glancing up towards the still-beating sun and giving it a warm smile. _Hey, for once the sun is over me and my skin doesn't feel like melting off! Nyahaha!_ Henry gave a brief wave towards the carriage and out hopped his friend (and escort) Gaius, following close behind him. Henry gave him a confused look as Gaius let out a yawn, and he shrugged in response. Maybe he didn't sleep well? Surrounded by crows is the best way to sleep though!

He had to make this mission as quick as he could so he couldn't stick around, Robin needed him back immediately. His fellow white-haired mage explained that he needed to be transported back to Ylisse once again, but with significantly more planning and preparation. Despite visiting the enemy nation once, it looks like this Robin wouldn't be rendered _flightless._ Never mind patting himself on the back for another pun, it looked like he needed to secure support on the inside when it comes to his furthering his plan. He was meticulous, Henry gave him that. Every single scenario, every single potential hole was thought of and had a contingency plan instantly thought up for.

Henry probably would've been jealous of Robin's numerous abilities if he wasn't so potent with dark magic and hexing. Gangrel put Robin through grueling tests, from magic to swordplay, axes and spears. He was proficient in nearly everything he tried, and looked like he had formal training for each and every one. Oddly enough, he almost took of Gaius' head with the throwing axe he was handed. Axes seemed to be one of the few things Robin seemed to fail at handling. Well, that and any throwing weapon that wasn't spear-based. The throwing axe went nowhere, throw-able swords fell flat on the ground with a dull thud, even small knives flew way outside their target zone. Only the javelins were able to hit their mark, and luckily he was more than decent with them. Robin was also good with dark magic and even a little bit of hexing, but he was nowhere near the level Henry was. It as a pride point for him!

Without a word Henry began his trek into the woods, Gaius tailing further behind him and taking a less lighted path. For once Henry didn't feel like cracking a joke, simply basking in the nature of Ylisse's lush forestry was enough for him. His crows chirped back and flew above him, celebrating the open air. Sure he had his mission, but he could still enjoy himself while getting there right? It's not like there's anything like this in Plegia and until they enact their plan he wouldn't get to immerse himself in this all the time.

Despite the happy atmosphere he tentatively flipped a page or two of a tome hidden within his coat, making sure he knew he had exactly the right spell primed just in case things turned messy. While he _preferred_ things messy, he had special orders from Robin to keep things as civil as possible, and to only use force if no other solution was present. Normally he'd be a little upset over that fact but Robin promised him at least a little bit of conflict in the near future. He'd be able to deal with that for now, since Robin was his buddy. He hated to taint the beautiful forests of Ylisse with Plegian dark magic, and hey! Blood is fun, but he can't die _just_ yet. Later sure, but not now. Too many things to do, dogs to pet!

The deeper he went into the forest, the quieter it got. The atmosphere seemed to change dramatically, the singing birds all but fell off the world as he trotted through the overgrow vines. It was almost like stepping into a different world, to see everything so green and pure turn into something along the lines of a frightful play. He knew why of course, but to see his own crows fly away to the outside of the forest was a little disconcerting. He carefully moved through the path, taking notice of the paw-like tracks that ran a rampage on the soil. He was on the right track that was for sure and unless a dog grew quadruple its size, he knew what was coming.

After examining the tracks and rummaging through the brief knowledge he had about tracking that he had learned from Gaius, he was able to conclude that the tracks were fairly recent. It looks like the Taguel has been hunting solely in this forest and avoiding any physical contact with hunters. Well if the body they had found on the road earlier was any indication, looks like the Taguel had at least some contact!

Moving what looked to be a purposefully placed branch out of the way, Henry found what looked to be a clearing, with a smoldering flame still present. He moved silently, thanking his spell book silently for the muffled movement hex he put on himself. With only bleeding from the ears as a side effect for just a minute, it was a great find! As he got closer, he saw what looked at first to be a human sleeping by the camp but the closer he got he realized the "human" actually had fur all over their body, especially on the extremities. Moving a bit closer to see the large ears dropped over the creatures shoulders confirmed that he had finally found the Taguel. Her face looked stressed, even in sleep. Well, he might as well wait for her to wake up!

Waving briefly to Gaius to throw him some sweets, a small white cube flew out from the trees and into Henry's hand. Popping it on a nearby stick and holding it over the flame, he hummed himself a tune as he waited for his soon-to-be-friend to wake up. It took a few minutes, but soon enough the Taguel slowly lifted up her head, sleepily glancing towards her visitor. It took her a brief minute for her to register what was happening, and her eyes shot wide. Henry looked over and gave a grin and a wave. "Hiya! Just waitin' for you to wake up." He plucked the now slightly charred cube off the stick and held it out to the creature, he looked at it with a confused expression before scrambling away and activating its Beaststone.

Henry watched in awe as the human-sized creature was engulfed in light briefly before being replaced with a 6 and a half foot tall rabbit creature. It released a distorted roar, what Henry could only assume was an intimidation tactic, before it began to stare him down. He tilted his head and gave it a disarming grin which only looked to anger it further. It ran back briefly and began to charge at Henry.

He shot up at once, pocketing his marshmallow in a swift movement before casting the spell he had prepped in his coat. Spectral hands shot up from the ground engulfed in a shadow-like aura and grasped onto the legs of the beast. It struggled and trashed but the spell hold tight, she was bound. It roared as it continued to thrash, and Henry let loose a whistle. It winced at the noise before glaring at him.

"Do it, Manspawn!" It commanded, still struggling against its bonds. "You've found the last of the Taguel, let me die with my pride!" Henry tilted his head, and began to cackle. One of his crows (Charleston he had named it) landed back on his shoulder, pecking him in the head a few times. He continued laughing as he swatted at Charleston, who after a bit just settled for sitting on his head.

"Why would I kill you?" He questioned, smiling at the Taguel. "That transformation was awesome! Not enough blood but the flash of light was cool, nyahaha!" The creature also tilted its head at him, but never let go of its sneer. "Actually, I was sent here! I wanted to talk with ya, since animals seem to like me the most out of my friends. Birds of a feather and all that, you know?" It continued to thrash, and Henry let loose a slight sigh but nevertheless kept the smile up. "What if I told you the Exalt was in danger?"

The creature suddenly looked very panicked and stopped thrashing. The panicked expression left the moment it was there, and it stared at him with apprehension. "What are you planning, Manspawn?" It questioned. "What do you gain from giving me this information?" Henry sat down next to the fire.

"Well first things first, mind telling me your name so ya don't murder me?" Henry laughed. "Plus if you do that, I don't have to keep the bonds up. They're really taxing ya know?" The Taguel sighed in its oddly reverberating voice.

"My name is Panne, Manspawn." It ground out. Henry smiled and stopped the bonds, and the dark energy dissipated. Henry let loose a "whew" as his muscles finally relaxed. The creature still didn't move, transforming back into its human form. It moved forward with a menacing look on its face. "When and where?" Panne demanded, glaring at the scholar. "When is she in danger?" Henry closed the gap and handed her a folded piece of paper.

"Two weeks from now, at the royal castle. The paper is a map of the castle and the purple line is a hole in the outer wall that's covered by a small brush." Henry explained, renewing his constant humming. "Use that to sneak in and help us protect the Exalt."

"How do you know what the other Manspawn are planning?" She interrogated.

"Well technically we're the ones who are planing it, nyahaha! We just plan to well, stop it at the same time. It's an odd, complicated process, but just know my buddy is doing his best to protect the exalt's life, even going so far as to commit treason! Nyahaha, fun ain't it?"

Panne stared blankly at the Plegian in front of her. Henry couldn't exactly read her expression, it almost looked like she was sizing him up, trying to find out if he was genuine or not. If he was to guess, she _wanted_ to just attack him and get it over with, but for some reason she stood her ground. Her expression shifted over and over after she digested the information, from anger, to confusion, to what almost looked like exasperation. She folded her arms and eventually just settled on glaring at him. Her glared furthered when Henry failed to hide his giggles.

"I can't find any reason to distrust you." She grumbled angrily, still looking ready to punch the scholar. "If you wanted to have killed me you had the perfect opportunity too, and to have ended the Taguel legacy right there. My pelt was yours if you truly wanted it." Henry almost looked like he was ready to gasp. He shook his head vigorously.

"Why would I do that?" He blurted, having not even thought of the position he had over the Taguel previously. Henry pulled both of his hands up above his head to admit his innocence. "The forest is more of my friend than humans are, I'm only traveling with Robin and Gaius because they've been nice to me!" Henry's eyes never opened, but Panne was able to figure out that his attitude became significantly more serious. "If I had been there when the Taguel Hunts were happening, I would have slaughtered every single one of the humans myself and painted this grass crimson." Henry briefly saw the fur on Panne's arms prickle upwards but other than that had no reaction immediately. Eventually she ended up nodding in what Henry could only describe as mutual respect.

"You do not smell like the other Manspawn." Panne admitted, shoulders sagging and letting go of the tension she had in her shoulders. She still eyed him warily, but he could tell the blatant distrust that she held for him on first meeting was suddenly gone. He didn't exactly know why, but he wasn't about to question it. If anything, they were birds of a feather! "You smell of animals, corvids in particular. Magic and nature permeates around you, and it is not like the smell of most Manspawn." She shifted uncomfortably, rubbing an uneasy arm against her shoulder despite keeping up a brave face. Henry guessed that she hadn't confided in anyone recently that could truly speak back since only humans could respond but most didn't match a scent she liked. "Most humans smell of steel and anger, specifically soldiers. Some smell of flowers, other of gold but all tend to give off fear and apprehension. I can smell nothing like that from you." Henry nodded excitedly. She sighed and shook her head. "The Exalt once saved my life, and I shall repay in kind. I thank you, Manspawn." She took on a contemplative look as she stared confusedly at the Plegian. "How did you know that I would listen upon your request to help the Exalt? How did you know the nature of my debt?"

The boy gave a brief shrug. "A little birdie told me. Said there were rumors of the past that Her Grace had saved a Taguel from poachers. We didn't know if it was real, so it was a gamble. Lucky us it was true!" Henry flashed a cheeky grin toward Panne and held out his hand. She stared at his hand in confusion. "Oh, do you not know what a handshake is? It's pretty self explanatory! We just sorta shake hands, like we agreed on something or out of just, ya know, being friends!" Panne stared at him. Henry continued to hold his hand out in anticipation.

A roll of the eyes later and a half-smile from the Taguel confirmed it as she took his hand and Henry shook it up and down vigorously. She was taken back at first at how aggressive he was with it but eventually returned it in favor. They eventually broke off and if Henry were honest, believed he might've just made another friend.

* * *

Robin landed gracefully from the small drop the teleportation had left him at. Brushing off the lower half of his coat, his mind was in an entirely different place than when he was briefly teleported. Quickly shoving his body against the nearest wall, to which he could only guess led directly inside the castle from the courtyard he was placed in, he began to examine his surroundings.

The courtyard was just as lush as the fields he visited not too long ago, minus the fire flying across the sky. The pathway was paved in perfectly sculpted cobblestone, decorated along the sides with flowers of colors he hadn't even thought he'd seen before. Granted, he worked in a desert and had no memories, but that was besides the point. It spanned all the way towards the outer walls, each of which had an archway of stone slabs guarded by two Ylissean Knights. He slinked against the wall a bit more, trying his hardest to make himself scarce. Ignoring the terrible things that could potentially happen to him if he was caught by one of them, he searched the courtyard.

His eyes landed on a small kid with an overly large, blue cap who looked, if body language was anything to go by, severely upset. He seemed to be ranting at someone who had their back turned and was walking away at a swift pace. Inching closer along the wall, Robin took a sharp intake as he realized Chrom was actually the one he was complaining too! Chrom shouted something back at him with a slightly exasperated expression before turning away with finality, leaving the kid in shock. The kid stomped a few times but then slumped and began to walk back towards Robin's direction.

The tactician's mind was moving a mile a minute. Who was this kid? Was he a shepherd? Just how influential was he within the group, or with the Ylisseans in general? He seemed to have some close connections to Chrom at the very least, especially if he could complain to the blue-blood without getting skewered then and there. _Maybe he's who I'm looking for. He can get me to her._ Robin moved as a shadow along the white, stone walls, motioning closer and closer to the unnamed kid without making himself seen.

After what felt like forever trying to get closer to the slowly sulking boy, Robin was able to sneak up behind him. Praying to whatever gods there were out there that he wouldn't be sentenced to hell for this, he wrapped an arm around his the kid's mouth and another around his chest, pulling tight. The kids eye's flew wide and has struggled to pry Robin's arms from his mouth, failing to do so. Robin pulled tighter, a signal to get him to stop struggling, and luckily the kid took it. Robin leaned close to his ear and cleared his throat, feeling the kid shiver in fear.

"Sorry about the rude introduction, but I need you to keep a secret, only for a week or so." Robin said quietly. The kid was shocked still. "Can I trust you to keep a secret? I need your help." The kid nodded, and Robin sighed briefly. He let go, and the kid fell to his knees and coughed. He turned to glare at his assailant.

"What do you need?" He demanded, knowing full well he wasn't in a position to ignore Robin's request. Robin in turned bowed, something he's picked up rather quickly while he was in Plegia. Turns out that was a thing that most Valmese did, and it turned out that those meetings with the politicians from across the seas were rubbing off on him.

"I apologize, but this truly does need to be kept a secret." Robin confessed, folding his arms as he stared at the grounded kid. "I need to speak with Her Grace. I saw you were speaking with Chrom and Frederick." Ricken's eyes once again shot wide at the name-drop. Robin noted the reaction. "I am a friend of Chrom's, but I can let him know I'm here. I gave him a signal awhile ago, but I cannot appear in front of him or his retainer right now. If you can, I need to speak to Emmeryn as soon as possible. Can you take me there? Also, what is your name?" The boy looked beyond pissed.

"My name is Ricken, intruder." Ricken looked conflicted at the request. Once again, he knew that the person in front of him held significantly more power, despite Ricken's magical prowess. He didn't have any spell tomes on him to retaliate, and this man was clearly armed if the bulge in his left coat pocket was any indication. The man could be lying, and if he was it could prove disastrous to the Exalt. Robin could trace his entire thought process, and lucky for him the mage eventually conceded and sighed.

"I'll lead you to her." He grunted, moving on without another word. Robin shrugged and followed him without a word. Leading him through the halls, they encountered confused guard after confused guard. Ricken pivoted out of each question and giving misleading answers and direction to get him past. Robin felt bad for essentially holding the kid hostage, but he really had no other choice. What would he have done otherwise? Asked him?

 _You know, if this kid is part of the shepherds that might have actually worked. If Chrom is anything to work off of, he probably would've just said sure and led me anyway._ Robin broke out of his trance when Ricken suddenly stopped in rent of a rather indistinct door. Another annoyed glance and Robin and Ricken began to speak.

"This is the door to Emmeryn's study. She's supposed to be unbothered during this time, but you can blame yourself for that fact." Robin winced inwardly at the tone, but said nothing otherwise. He simply nodded while keeping his hood up. Ricken knocked on the door. "Her Grace, you have a visitor." There was a distinct hum coming from within the room.

"Come in." A peaceful voice beckoned. Robin took initiative and opened the door, putting a hand on Ricken's shoulder and shoving him inside as well. As soon as he stepped in Emmeryn shot to her feet, a surprisingly fierce expression on her face. She took an inherent step back, and Robin figured it was most likely because of his Grimleal cloak. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Grimleal. What are you doing in the royal castle? How did you get here?" Robin held up his hands in mock forfeit and removed his hood. Shaking his hair free, he held out an open palm.

"Pleased to meet you." Robin started, ignoring the urge to chuckle at the confused expression on the Exalt's face. "You may have heard of me from your brother Chrom, we've made quite the acquaintance recently." Emmeryn let loose a deep sigh and sat down in her chair, covering her face with a tired hand.

"You must be the chief adviser to King Gangrel." Emmeryn breathed, releasing all tension she felt. Ricken looked shocked and flipped his head between Her Grace and the mystery tactician, but otherwise said nothing. "I apologize, your markings caught me off guard and this has been a very long day for me."

"Paperwork?" Robin tilted his head. Emmeryn chuckled.

"Too much of such." She folded a few papers and pushed them aside, giving all her attention to her guest. "Should Ricken be present for this meeting? I do not know the nature of your visit." Robin shook his head and gave a slight nod to the kid.

"Yes, in fact the both of you are vital to this mission." Robin spoke, and shuffled through his coat. He pulled a small black glob from his pocket, and it seemed to pulsate with magical energy. Tossing it towards the door, it melded inside the framework and the outline flashed black. A loud locking mechanism was heard. "That should give us time uninterrupted. That'll project a false image of a soldier outside of the room. Hopefully that keeps anyone from bothering us." Emmeryn raised her eyebrows.

"A hex?" She questioned. Robin nodded. "Interesting. Just when will that expire?" Robin's eyes went wide with realization as he slowly glanced towards the door.

"Uh…" he blundered, realizing he actually made a mistake…for once. He would admit to the 'for once' part. "It should be over in a few minutes. If not I can dispel it…probably. Maybe. Hopefully." Emmeryn let loose a brief chuckle at his expense.

"For one with the monicker of a perfect tactician, that was an oddly elementary mistake." Robin gave her a flat stare. She sat back and folded her hands together, finally smiling towards Robin. "Alright, you have me. What do you require?" Robin moved forward and placed a few papers on her desk, maps of a hilly area on the border of Ylisse and Plegia. He waved for Ricken to move towards the desk.

"I'm assuming Chrom has relayed my message?" A nod. "Great, then you know Gangrel's overall intention. He's planned to declare war on you in about a week's time, and plans to do it here." Robin bit his lip in anger, but smothered the feeling. "I have no idea what his plan is, why we're here exactly, but he has a plan that he has not let anyone know of why. It pains me to tell you that I am not fully prepared for what he will end up doing here, but rather than putting a stop to it, I need a contingency plan." Emmeryn sagged.

"We are to be at war in a week…" Emmeryn looked genuinely upset, pained even. Robin could guess why. She had tried so hard to quell the pain her father left behind and to finally hope to establish peace. To know that her efforts in that field were all for nought was a crushing feeling, he could tell. "Go on, please." She almost sounded like she was begging, but he let it slide. He turned to Ricken.

"Ricken, are you a shepherd?" Ricken stood up straight and gave a cocky smile.

"You know it!" Ricken boasted, but he nervously rubbed the back of his neck and adjusted his hat. "Well, I am but Chrom hasn't let me on a mission yet. He still thinks I'm too young." He stomped his foot angrily. "I'll show him some day!" Robin chuckled, and reached inside his coat. He tossed a green book towards Ricken, and the boy fumbled with the book before catching it.

"This is an Elwind tome." Robin explained, and then pointed to the purple 'X' marked on the map on one of the highest hills. He did his best to ignore the look of awe Ricken was giving his book. "Due to the fact that we don't know what he's planning, I need unplanned backup for Ylisse. I can only assume he will state that he doesn't want the Ylissean army following Her Grace. Since the Shepherds aren't technically part of the military, you will be able to have them tag along. Chrom won't normally let you in on this mission, but I need you to tail them at a distance regardless. Your job is to stay in the sidelines, and if fighting were to break out to take out any wyvern riders that might aim for the Exalt." Robin paused. "Also I'm giving you the liberty to improvise. If he brings something that I have not talked about here and you see an opportunity to thwart it, do so. Got it?" Ricken shook his head up and down vigorously, and Robin patted the kid's hat down over his eyes with a bark of a laugh. "Good kid."

"So the reason you wished to see me to alert me to the immediate future, and to ensure my safety." Emmeryn smiled, and gave a melodic laugh that actually forced Robin to push down a blush. "I thank you for your time Sir Robin, I'm not sure how I would've reacted without this information." The smile itself threw Robin for a loop.

 _Okay, last thing you need to be doing Robin is thinking anything near indecent about not only the leader of an enemy nation, but the sister of the man you are working with._ The mental lecture forced him back on focus. He returned to his neutral expression and pulled out another piece of paper, briefly looking it over before pocketing it again. "Well, the goal is to keep you safe but I have more information to report that may trouble you." Emmeryn nodded. "I can't tell you the nature of the issue simply because of the reaction will most likely make you…" Robin stopped. "Most likely panic. You're generally serene and I can tell that just from this meeting but it won't make you happy." Emmeryn held up a halting palm.

"Hold your secrets, oh mysterious tactician." She said calmly. Robin thought she doubted that she might panic because of the news but she at least trusted his word that he needed to keep it a secret for the time being. Well, he hoped anyway. The reality that he could easily just be captured and executed right now was easily seen. If not executed, then at least held for ransom. If he had a library and had some good food he didn't _mind_ being a captive in a nicer place, but it generally wasn't his first plan. Maybe fourth.

Ricken jumped in on the conversation, feeling rather left out of the loop despite being in there for the entire meeting. "So all I need to do is follow your order and everything will be alright?" He asked innocently. Robin gave him a rather dour look despite the positive nature of the question.

"Most likely no." Robin answered grimly, making the boy deflate. "Look kid, the king would have absolutely no issue chopping off your head and putting it on a pike. He would do the same to every Ylissean." Ricken's face turned a ghostly pale. "Depending on how the meeting goes this could be a formal declaration of war, or someone could do something stupid. Including Chrom." A sigh to his right from the Exalt. "You have to be ready to defend yourself to the last breath. One wrong move, and you'll be a tombstone in the graveyard. This is war, and the purpose behind your question gives me the reason Chrom has yet to let you on the battlefield." Ricken's expression contorted in anger.

"I'm not a kid!" He shouted, unconsciously channeling magic throughout his body. The pages of the arcwind tome fluttered open dramatically, and Ricken stared wide-eyed at it, anger briefly forgotten in his confusion. Another bark of a laugh from Robin quickly washed away the confusion and instead placed a yearning for an answer from the man.

"Well that settles it!" He announced with mirth. "You're not just a kid, but a very powerful one at that. Use the opportunity I'm giving you and you might just find yourself on the traveling group of the shepherds." Pocketing his papers, he motioned towards the door, inspecting the lock before giving a _really annoyed_ grunt of frustration. "Oh on Grima's soul…."

"What's wrong, Sir Robin?" Emmeryn questioned as he began to curse lowly at the hexed door.

"Oh nothing, just that my main dark mage who engineered this hex is a gods damned lunatic." He cleared his throat as he rather angrily leaned towards the door. "What do you call a bird from the early days of Plegia? A _flapper._ " A click. Ricken stared in shock.

"You had to make a pun to undo the hex?!" He started to laugh loudly, nearly drowning out the quiet chuckles from the Exalt herself. Robin gave them a disapproving glare that he realized was going to only make them laugh harder.

"Not just any pun, a bird pun. Now if you'll excuse me, I have one last thing to do before the meeting to come in a week." Robin pulled a crow out of his hood, opened the door, and the crow flew. "Charleston, take us home." In a flash of light, Robin was gone just as he had came. Ricken's eyes bulged and ran towards the window, looking left and right before swinging around wildly to look at Emmeryn.

"He's just gone!" Ricken exclaimed in total shock. Emmeryn hummed softly.

"I think he left in a hurry because he was embarrassed."

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 **Well that's that. Please leave that suggestion requested above in the Reviews. Thank you!**


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